 Intelligence, education, and energy formed the ideal scenario to take
a calculated risk and create more than a business, a market, in a
Puerto Rico industry that very few acknowledge and most ignore:
recycling.
After researching, travelling, meeting and negotiating, environmental
consultant Liz Howell and her husband, Engineer Fernando Colón, took a
leap of faith in 2011 and bet on a foam recycling program that would be
the first in Puerto Rico, opening a recycling market for this material
locally. The couple invested about $15k in equipment only, and an
undisclosed amount in rent and other startup costs. Yo Reciclo (I Recycle) set its operation in Caguas, nearby Agrocentro Ochoa.
Since Yo Reciclo began its operation on March 2012, it has
prevented more than 2,500 cubic yards of foam from reaching landfills;
which is more foam than the typical pharmaceutical manufacturing plant
generates in a year.
“Solid waste management has always been a concern for me and I wanted
to do something about it. Puerto Rico imports about one million pounds
of Styrofoam per year, for manufacturing processes only. This number
doesn’t include consumer-packaging foam! Once Styrofoam exits the
manufacturing plant, it ends up in the landfill within 30 days. To make
matters worse, some landfills are not even accepting foam because, due
to its volume, it reduces the landfill’s useful life quicker than other
materials,” said Howell, whose company currently has less than 5% of the
potential market. The remaining 95% goes to landfills while, in Asia,
60% of the used foam is recycled.
Even with the amount of Styrofoam (#6) imported and the million
pounds of other types of foam reaching landfills —such as Polyethylene,
or PE (#4), and Polypropylene, or PP (#5)— Howell and Yo Reciclo still find it challenging to receive a steady stream of material to recycle.
“The amount of material we get comes mainly from industrial and
commercial businesses; very few residential, but we do accept it. Our
clients have the option of dropping off the material in our facility or
using our pickup and hauling service. Our services help companies save
money in disposal costs because we help them reduce the volume of their
waste,” said Howell.
In an effort to tackle the residential foam waste, Yo Reciclo
and the municipality of Caguas have a pilot collection program in 3
locations. Foam deposited in the bins at these locations is recycled
rather than ending up in a landfill.
“Unfortunately, we don’t close the recycling cycle in Puerto Rico,
meaning that we don’t have—nor there is in Puerto Rico—a manufacturing
plant that can take our product and recycle it into new products. What
we do is shred the materials into pieces and apply heat densification to
reduce its volume. We mold it, package it and export it. It gets
recycled into toys, soles for tennis shoes, and phone protector cases,
among many other products,” said Howell.
Howell mentioned she would like to see other municipalities and
collection centers involved in the process. “If they invest in the
equipment, we can take care of maintenance, or we can train their team
to give it the proper maintenance. Additionally, we purchase the
material they produce and export it along with what we produce.”
As with any startup, there have been challenges. But Howell and her
husband have faced them with determination and a positive attitude.
“Everything has been challenging, from doing market research to
finding the ideal location and receiving financing. The data we were
able to find was two years old, but we had to go with it because it was
the only data available. PRIDCO’s list of facilities didn’t work for us
because the buildings were too big, so we had to look ourselves. And
nobody had faith in us, so it was hard to get financing. The only way we
could get some money to invest was through Doral bank’s program for
women entrepreneurs. Finally, after we started a market that didn’t
exist, we had dishonest and illegal competitors within six months. It
has definitely been a learning process,” recalled Howell.
Regardless, Howell says that starting a business is not the
destination. “As entrepreneurs, we must continue learning, adapting and
innovating. We have to bust the myths and remain positive.”
By Gina M. Hernández | gina@switchroad.com |
