STC 2024: Turning Caribbean plastic waste into furniture, art and income.
Michael Russek, designer and recycled plastics specialist with 25 years of fabrication expertise and partnerships with eBay, Tesla, Hurley, and Panasonic, brings one of STC 2024's most practical and immediately actionable sessions to the Caribbean Tourism Organization's Sustainable Tourism Conference in Grenada.
His message is simple — plastic on the ground is money on the ground. Using techniques as accessible as a grinder and a pizza oven, communities can transform collected plastic waste into sheet stock, roofing tiles, decking, furniture, and public art. A small-scale setup costs under $300. An industrial facility processing a ton of plastic a day costs around $350,000. The technology exists, the franchise models are ready, and Russek argues it could be implemented across the Caribbean this year.
CTO TV is the official channel of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the region's leading intergovernmental tourism body representing 25 member countries.
🔔 Subscribe to CTO TV for new leadership conversations, destination content, and industry insights every month.
📍 onecaribbean.org