Recycling centre at Dive Timor/Castaway’s
We dive against Debris every month
Back in 2009 Dive Timor Lorosae set up the first recycling centre at a Dive Centre in Timor Leste. But with the departure of the UN, the means to recycle disappeared, so it was not sustainable.
Now in Timor Leste we have a fantastic company called Caltech that recycles plastic, glass, tetra packs and metal and aluminum and even organic matter into compost.
So Recycling centre Mark II was created, a joint project between Dive Timor Lorosae and Castaways Bar and Restaurant. Being the only PADI 5* Eco Dive Centre in the country, our plastic imprint is minimal, but we do supply canned drinks on our trips and have a lot of leaves due to the trees at the back by the hotel. And on our month Dive Against Debris we collect trash from the ocean floor that can be recycled.
Castaways however, being one of the busiest restaurants in Dili, have a large quantity of packaging both plastic and paper with their food products and glass bottles from beer and wine.
So it’s great we have the facility to recycle.
Setting up the Recycling Centre
One of the biggest challenges is the separation of trash into different types. Aluminium cans for example need to be separated from tin cans. So we set about labelling the recycling bins in the simplest way possible, the product written in 3 languages, Tetum, Bahasa Indonesian and English, with a large picture of the product for that bin on the lid and the side of the bin.
We show them the board behind the bins which is made of the plastic that is being thrown away.
Here’s Nato disposing of plastic we collected on our Dive Against Debris that morning.
It is still a learning curve but the staff of both Dive Timor Lorosae and Castaways Restaurant and Bar are trying their best to separate the trash, but we are getting there.
So what happens to the trash?
Separating the trash at Caltech
Not only do Caltech take the trash from recycling centres such as ours, they also collect it from clients sites , 2 government offices, their community hub initiative and from the free drop off at their Material Recovery Centre in Comoro.
From the Material Recovery Centre the trash is then sorted by a dedicated team into it’s different types. They have successfully recycled over a staggering 600 tonnes of trash so far.
Next the sorted trash is used in their in house Circul-R factory where it is transformed into landscaping and composite board products that are made from 100% recyclables.
In the making of the landscaping products, plastic is shredded and weighed and the glass pulverised and mixed together. Then it is put through a heat process making the plastic soft. The last stage is the pressing machine that moulds it into pavers as seen in the photo. These have been used in various places around town including the Motael Lighthouse and Christo Rae(for those who are familiar with Dili)
Caltech making recycling boards
Caltech also make board products which we have used for the back wall of the recycling centre, from plastics and Tetra Pak cartons. These are shredded and then flattened using huge rollers, covered in a layer of plastic and heat treated. They are then trimmed to a standard size.
They produce 3 different grades of boards using different materials, 2 of which are waterproof depending on what you want to use the board for.
Caltech is based at the Venture Hotel, on Rua Lecidere, Dili
Where can you buy these products?
You can buy direct from Caltech or they are selling their boards and pavers at the following outlets
Cheng Yuanjian, Unipessoal, Lda : Rua de Hudi laran
Always: CHVP+GP2, R. Belarmino Lobo, Díli
Aneka Construsaun: R. Cidade de Viana do Castelo, Díli
Tun Wan 197689: Rua de Fonte dos namorados, Taibesi
Hong Jie: Estrada de Bidau, Lecidere
TBS: Hudilaran
Loja: Aimutin 89
Visit their website www.caltechgrp.com and watch videos on the process of the recycling and making these awesome Eco-friendly products.