Renew Bahamas is poised to take a "massive leap forward" in 2015 as it prepares for a planned 2015 expansion.
Renew Bahamas President and CEO Gerhard Beukes told Guardian Business yesterday that while the waste energy company's recycling program is "still in its infancy", it would have broad environmental benefits for the country.
"I think from an environmental point of view, it's a massive leap forward for the country in what we are doing here.
"We are recycling some product already. We have finalized our planning for the large materials recycling facility that we plan to launch in 2015, and at that phase we will be recycling the majority of the recyclable waste that New Providence produces," said Beukes.
He confirmed that Renew Bahamas has already sent three waste shipments to China, India and Taiwan, respectively. He said that recently added infrastructure now allows the country to determine the volume of waste coming into the landfill facility for the first time in many years.
According to Beukes, Renew Bahamas maintains a close working relationship with Bahamas Waste and other waste collectors in the country as it moves from test volumes to larger-scale recycling.
"We built new weighbridges at the site and these are now operational and providing us with accurate tonnage that is coming into the site, as of the 24th of November. Once the larger facility is in place we expect the volume to increase substantially," he said.
Following last week's Bahamas Energy Security Forum, Beukes stated that The Bahamas needs to further invest in renewables while acknowledging that fossil fuels still play an important role in the country's energy sector at present.
"Obviously there's been a very large dependence on fossil fuels and one can understand the necessity to explore cheaper routes of exploring fossil fuels. But at the same time, if there are cheaper and greener routes available to relieve the burden on the country, such as alternatives, it should be explored," he said.
Renew Bahamas is financed by Aubaine Capital, a U.K.- based private equity firm which also has an interest in ITI Energy, a British company. ITI Energy manufactures a gasifier system that produces a synthetic gas from garbage that can be used in electricity generation.

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