The Department of Environmental Health (DEH) has established recycling depots outside Layman Scott High School in Stake Bay and West End Primary School in West End. The sites accept Type 1 and Type 2 plastics, metal cans and aluminium.

Residents are being asked to clean recyclable materials before depositing them and to place only accepted items in the designated bins.

Collected material will be stored at the Cayman Brac landfill before being shipped to the DEH Recycling Centre in George Town for processing.

The relaunch is the first phase of what officials say will be a wider expansion of recycling services, although the government has not announced how many additional sites are planned, when more materials will be accepted or when the programme could reach Little Cayman.

What happens to Cayman Brac's recycling

The logistics of recycling on Cayman Brac extend beyond the two collection points.

Material collected on the island must first be stored locally and then transported to Grand Cayman. Previous DEH information shows that recyclables collected in the Sister Islands have been taken to Grand Cayman for sorting and preparation before shipment overseas for recycling.

That process makes correct separation at the collection points important. The DEH has asked households and businesses to clean recyclable materials and avoid placing other waste in the bins, as contamination can make collected material unsuitable for recycling or complicate processing.

The department has not said how frequently material from the new depots will be shipped to Grand Cayman or what the transport and processing arrangements will cost.

Cayman Brac has had recycling points before

The relaunch follows earlier recycling efforts on Cayman Brac.

In 2022, the DEH said it maintained 14 drop-off locations for aluminium cans on the island, while Type 1 and Type 2 plastics could be taken to a separate collection point.

That year, the department reported removing 35,407 lbs of aluminium cans, plastics, lead-acid batteries and used tyres from the Sister Islands, along with 2,475 gallons of oil. The material was taken to Grand Cayman, where it was sorted and prepared for shipment overseas.

The latest announcement does not explain how the two newly announced depots relate to the previous network of collection points or when or why the earlier arrangements were discontinued or changed.

It also does not provide comparable figures showing how much recyclable material the new programme is expected to collect.

Government links relaunch to wider waste strategy

Health, Environment and Sustainability Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks MP and District Administration and Home Affairs Minister Nickolas DaCosta MP visited Cayman Brac for the relaunch alongside DEH Director Richard Simms and department staff.

Ebanks-Wilks described the programme as part of the government's broader approach to waste management.

“One of this government's key initiatives is to develop and implement recycling initiatives as part of its broader waste management strategy,” she said.

She said the new collection points would make it easier for residents to divert recyclable material from landfill.

“The relaunch of the programme now makes it easier for residents on the Brac to contribute to national efforts to reuse and recycle more and reduce the amount of waste ending up in our landfill site,” she said.

DaCosta said residents of the Sister Islands should have access to environmental services available elsewhere in Cayman.

“Residents of the Sister Islands should have access to the same environmental services available elsewhere in the Cayman Islands, and these collection points make recycling more practical,” he said.

He said he wanted the programme expanded to include additional locations and recyclable materials, as well as Little Cayman.

No timetable for that expansion has been announced.

Cayman faces a wider waste challenge

The programme is being revived against a broader challenge over the amount of waste generated across the Cayman Islands.

A previous assessment by the Office of the Auditor General found that Cayman had made no progress against a UN sustainable-development target aimed at substantially reducing waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.

Total waste handled at the islands' landfills increased from 106,054 tons in 2017 to 128,078 tons in 2021, according to figures cited in the report.

The Auditor General said Cayman generated about 3,603 lbs of waste per person in 2021, equivalent to about 9.9 lbs a day, although the report cautioned that the calculation could be affected by the islands' large number of visitors.

The figures provide a broader measure of the waste challenge confronting the islands, but the government has not said how much material it expects the revived Cayman Brac recycling programme to divert from landfill.

It has also not set out publicly what measures will be used to judge whether the programme is successful.

Pressure on the Cayman Brac landfill

Reducing the amount of material entering the waste stream also comes as the government seeks to improve conditions at the Cayman Brac landfill.

In a budget statement covering 2026 to 2028, Ebanks-Wilks said the landfill was operating without a compactor, equipment used to compress waste and make more efficient use of available space.

She said acquiring a compactor was important as the landfill continued to expand and would help extend its operational life while reducing the risk of deep-seated fires.

The condition of the landfill gives the recycling programme a more immediate local context. Diverting recyclable material could reduce some of the waste entering the site, although the government has not quantified how much landfill space the two collection points are expected to save.

Recycling raised during environmental law consultation

Tamara Ebanks, chief officer at the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability, said demand for greater recycling access had also emerged during public consultation on the proposed Environmental Health Bill.

“As part of our public consultation on the Environmental Health Bill, we have heard strong support from residents in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman for greater access to recycling, with similar views expressed during our engagement in Grand Cayman,” she said.

Ebanks said recycling initiatives could proceed while proposed legislative changes remained under consideration.

“While we continue to seek the public's feedback on the proposed legislation, initiatives such as this demonstrate the practical steps we can take alongside legislative reform to support cleaner, healthier communities,” she said.

The ministry has not said whether provisions in the proposed legislation would directly change the way recycling services are provided or funded in the Sister Islands.

First phase leaves questions over expansion

The DEH has described the Cayman Brac relaunch as the first phase of the programme, with additional locations and recyclable materials expected later.

For now, however, the service is limited to the two collection points and the specified plastics and metals.

The government has not disclosed the cost of relaunching or operating the service, the expected volume of material to be collected, the cost of transporting recyclables to Grand Cayman or the criteria that will determine when the next phase begins.

It has also not announced when recycling services could be extended to Little Cayman.

The two depots nevertheless give Cayman Brac households another way to keep selected materials out of the landfill. How much difference the programme makes will depend on participation, the volume of material recovered and whether the government follows through on its planned expansion.