Guam biz group ships its first container of baled aluminum

[B]ANIGUA, Guam[/B]—Representatives of the Guam Business Partners for Recycling under project “i-recycle” placed the last bales of recycled aluminum cans in a container van at the Ambros offices in Anigua yesterday in preparation for shipment to the U.S. mainland.

The container will be transported by Matson Navigation Co. in the coming weeks to the Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation in Los Angeles, Calif.

Schools that helped gather the aluminum cans will receive the proceeds earned for their use.

The 20-foot container holds 23,280 lbs of baled aluminum, which translates to approximately 838,000 cans.

When the baled aluminum arrives at the West Coast, it will be bought by Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corp., the largest aluminum recycler in the world, at the current market price. At this time the price for aluminum on the West Coast is $.81/lb. This first shipment will generate about $18,850 (subject to minimal stevedoring and trucking fees) that will be disbursed to Guam schools.

The proceeds will be received by the Guam Business Partners for Recycling, Inc., a non-profit organization, and the disbursements to the schools will be based on the volume each school generated.

Forty eight-cubic-yard bins have been placed islandwide since the first bin was placed at St. John’s School on Sept. 5, 2007. The participating schools include 11 private schools, GCC and UOG, and 27 public schools, including all the high schools, middle schools and 16 elementary schools. Two additional 3 cubic yard bins, provided by NAVFAC, have been placed at the Navy DODEA schools in order to allow them to participate in the program as well. Additionally, three public elementary schools are now participating in the program without an 8-cubic-yard bin.

Peggy Denney, program administrator of the i-recyle program is excited to see the first container ready for shipment. “When we launched this program back in September 2007, [it was] with the understanding that programs like this take awhile to build momentum, but it is so encouraging to see how active the schools and community have been in filling bin after bin—making this finally a reality.”

“The partners are confident that as more businesses, agencies and organizations get involved to support our efforts, we can fill another container in April—meaning the schools could potentially receive another check before the end of the school year!” she added.

When asked how the partners feel about the recent Bill 244 introduced by Sen. Muna-Barnes, J. Lee Babb, president of the GBPR stated, “The success of the i-recycle program makes mandatory deposits on beverage containers unnecessary and if enacted, Bill 244 would undermine this worthwhile private-public program.”

The Guam Business Partners for Recycling comprises eight businesses: Ambros Inc., Anheuser Busch Recycling Corp., Coca-Cola/ Foremost/ Subway/Glimpses, South Pacific Petroleum Corp., Matson Navigation Co., Perez Brothers Inc., Guahan Waste Control, and Ernst & Young.

Peggy Denney dba Denney Environmental Consulting Services, is the program administrator of the “i-recycle” project.

The objective of the “i-recycle” program is to educate and promote the recycling of aluminum beverage containers on an islandwide level. The GBPR’s plan is to use private and public schools as sites for the aluminum can bins, giving access for the entire community to recycle all over the island. The ultimate plan is to have local businesses, agencies and organizations get involved by adopting a school.

The GBPR is soliciting sponsors for their Adopt-A-School program. Contact Peggy Denney at 483-9415 on how to get involved. [B][I](GBPR)[/I][/B]