RFI: Recycling in Panama?

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received today via email: "Hi Don, We are big fans of the website, keep up the good work! We just back to Panama after a few years in Europe, and one thing that has really struck us now is the apparent lack of recycling facilities in PTY, or maybe we just dont know about it? How about an ex-pat guide to recycling in the city, sure it would be welcomed by those of us from more environmentally conscientious countries! Best. Andrew"
Recycling Driven By The Money: Most recycling in Panama is done by drunks and crack-heads who rummage through garbage bins to scrounge for paper, aluminum, copper, or other things they can haul down to the places that pay for these materials in bulk. They normally work like a dog until they have enough money - about $5 bucks - to get either a bottle of Seco or a few rocks of crack, then they drop the whole "work" thing to go get stoned. It is possible to separate your own garbage and bring it there yourself, however I would not recommend it because most of these places are located in Curundu, Chorrillo - you know, where the crack heads are. I don't know of anyplace that buys or recycles plastics, for example. But you're right, there's room for growth in this area in Panama. I know of one place that pays 11 cents per pound for newspaper, down by the brewery just off of Tumba Muerto. There are scrap metal dealers who export cargo containers full of scrap metal (mostly on ships to Asia) every day. However at the residential level it's practically unheard of in this country.
Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.






By DON WINNER for
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