Young people in the province of Puerto Plata, Sosúa included, have found a new source of income.
They started to collect used plastic bottles and then bring them to the recycler 'Recicladora del Cibao SRL' in Santiago where they get paid for it.
Some of the young people are said to earn 2000 pesos or more every week.
The recycled plastic bottles are packed in bales and then shipped to a processing plant abroad.
But the company wants to perform the recycling itself and has hired a Chinese company to set up a processing plant.
The Environment Minister is very pleased about this initiative and said that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Recicladora del Cibao
The Dominican Republic suffers a lot from the environmental damage caused by the huge heaps of garbage that are produced every day.
The garbage disposal at the landfills can not adequately handle these waste streams.
So recycling of paper, metal and plastic will not only generate additional employment, but also reduce the environmental pollution.
