Island Green Living Celebrates Big Recycling Milestone

With their first shipment of 2026, St. John’s Island Green Living reported that it has exceeded the recycling milestone of 5 million aluminum cans and more than 152,000 pounds of ocean-bound plastics.

Shipment #16, loaded the last week of February, included 290,700 aluminum cans and 7,451 pounds of #1, 2 and 5 plastics. The pallets are on their way to partner PADNOS, where these items will be recycled, extending the productive life cycle of the resources, the nonprofit announced.

“We thank the island community for their diligence in separating out aluminum and #1, 2 and 5 plastics from their trash and giving these materials a new lease on life while keeping our oceans, landfills and the environment free of litter,” said Harith Wickrema, president of Island Green Living. “Our stellar recycling team, headed by Akeino Williams, works hard to collect and sort the materials, with invaluable help from our volunteers. Please keep in mind that as a charity operation, managed independently from the municipality, we depend on financial contributions to keep the operation going. We received zero funds from the legislature’s last budget.”

Island Green emphasizes that although recycling is critical to sustainable waste management, the first step is to RETHINK and minimize consumption, especially of single-use plastic. At this time the nonprofit cannot accept glass and cardboard, so please keep these items out of the recycling bins. It is also vital that people do not dispose of needles and other medical waste with recyclables as they can cause serious injury risks to sorters, it added.