COMPANY FOUNDER SAYS: ‘MANUFACTURING FROM WASTE MATERIALS IS LUCRATIVE INDUSTRY’

IT IS not often that someone gets an unconventional idea. It is even less common for these individuals to act on them. This is what separates Scheed Cole from so many people. A professional sculptor, painter and engineer, his passion for Jamaica and the environment led to a turning point in his life. He realised that not only does Jamaica have a high unemployment rate, but that his countrymen dispose of hundreds of thousands of waste material per day, material which could be used to grow the economy and provide employment.

Cole said, “China and Sweden buy waste to create raw material. According to my research, the United States government proclaimed that by the year 2030, if they can increase their recycling effort to 75 per cent, they will be able to create another 1.1 million jobs. We have to think outside the box when it comes to job creation. Recycling utilises an additional 10 persons per one person for the conventional ways we dispose of garbage right now.”

His research gave him the ingenious idea to turn those waste products into profit and led to the creation of a company called 360 Recycle Manufacturing. Cole developed his first few products only a year ago in order to test the market. It was an immense success, so he registered the company and has been unstoppable ever since. The process is painstaking, and all 20 of his employees had to undergo vigorous training.

“We use lightweight material that are structurally sound. We usually grind the foam boxes and mix the pieces with paper and cardboard, along with cement to create a paste. This is what we use to mould the objects for the sculptures. When it comes to structures that support their own weight such as outdoor tables and benches, we use binding wire to tie plastic bottles together. We then apply the recycle mix to bind them together by pasting around the objects. The end products are highend and professionally made. Just