Building resilience through waste diversion and reduction
my work with Jua Kali Ltd. — a
profit-for-purpose, social enterprise
that seeks to provide innovative
and sustainable resource
recovery solutions to address
waste management issues in
Small Island Developing States
through strategic partnerships.
Before Jua Kali, I was a
Social Development Practitioner/
Short-term Consultant for
the World Bank and Caribbean
Local Economic Development
project. I was also employed
with the Ministry of Social
Transformation.
IPS: What led you to establish
Jua Kali Ltd.?
LJ: In 2012, I completed a
Master’s in Urban Studies from
the Simon Fraser University
in British Columbia, Canada.
My master’s thesis, “Wasted
Lives: Determining the Feasibility
of Establishing a Test
Case Resource Recovery Programme
in the Urban Poor
Community of Faux-a-Chaud,
Saint Lucia” sought to explore
Resource Recovery as a tool
for alleviating urban poverty,
enhancing environmental sustainability
and bettering communities.
This research formed
the basis of a business idea that
led me and an eight person
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By Alison Kentish
CASTRIES, April 12, 2019
(IPS) - Jua Kali is a social
enterprise tackling waste management
and helping to reduce
reliance on St. Lucia’s only
landfill, which will reach the
end of its lifespan in 2023.
The company, with its slogan
‘Trashing the Idea of Waste,’
hosts waste collection drives
through pop up depots that
encourage residents to bring
in glass, plastic and tin cans
in exchange for supermarket
shopping points.
This is happening as St.
Lucia, like other small island
states, faces climate resilience
issues with freshwater quality
and deterioration in marine
and coastal ecosystems.
Jua Kali is the brainchild of
Laurah John. She talks to IPS
about why she established Jua
Kali and the challenges that
she has faced on the project.
Excerpts of the interview follow:
Inter Press Service (IPS): Tell
me about your background.
Laurah John (LJ): I am a
purpose driven, creative rebel
and sustainability change agent
or at the very least I try to
embody those traits through
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team to win the 8th United
Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation
UNESCO Youth Forum Startup
Weekend in 2013 and led to the
creation of Jua Kali Ltd. in
August 2014.
IPS: Tell me about your
slogan, ‘Trashing the Idea of
Waste’.
LJ: We acknowledge waste as
a design flaw in how we built
our societies and do not see
it as acceptable. We are challenging
the public to re-think
the concept of waste and question
consumption patterns and
how that contributes to the
problem. We are empowering
consumers to recognise that
they have the right to leverage
(their dollar) and demand that
producers create better quality
products that address the endof
life reality of their goods.
Producers take limited
resources to create goods that
are bought then thrown out. If
we no longer believe that waste
is acceptable, it means that this
product, once utilised, needs to
feed into some other process for
continuity – closing the loop!
IPS: How do you host collection
drives and are you satisfied
with public reception?
LJ: The collection drives are
based on the Pop Up shop concept
– hence the name Pop Up
depots – where we set up shop
with our tents, tables, chairs
and army of volunteers, to create
an area where the public
may drop-off used household
materials like plastic bottles
and containers, glass jars and
bottles, as well as cans and tins.
In return, they receive points
on their Massy Stores Loyalty
Card. We set up twice a month.
We are very satisfied with the
public’s reception! From our
very first day back with the
depots (March 2, 2019), many
people came up to us to say
how happy they were that the
depots had resumed, what a
great initiative it is, and that
they hoped it was coming back
for good – encouraging words
that reinforced that we are on
the right path.
IPS: What are some of the
challenges you face in this
project?
LJ: Raising awareness is our
biggest challenge. Airtime is
expensive and although we
have some sponsorship in this
regard, much more is required
to have a consistent presence
to remind the public of the
depots. Additionally, where
people receive their information
changes depending on
what part of the island they
reside. This requires a communications
strategy that is both
robust and multidimensional,
pulling on a variety of platforms
to target different audiences.
IPS: Where do you see Jua
Kali in five years?
LJ: As a regional leader in
socio-environmental stewardship.
IPS: Why is waste diversion
and reduction so crucial to the
climate change and environmental
discussion?
LJ: To appreciate the importance
of waste diversion and
reduction activities and their
contribution to the climate
change and environmental discussion,
we must first understand
the severity of their
impact. Typical disposal and
treatment of waste in a landfill
can produce emissions of several
greenhouse gases (GHGs),
most significantly methane,
which contributes to global
climate change. Other forms
of waste disposal also produce
GHGs though mainly in the
form of carbon dioxide.
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