Antonio in the Age of Plastic
By Laura Gomez
HAVANA TIMES – In Cuba, as in the rest of the world, the sale of various plastic items is commonplace, such as household utensils, toys, sandals, kitchen implements, or cleaning materials.
Antonio Menendez walks around the neighborhood of La Lisa almost daily, although sometimes he goes to other municipalities. The day I met him, he was collecting plastic waste from a garbage dump to sell later. As I approached, he looked at me warily, thinking for a moment that I was an inspector. Then he relaxed.
How long have you been collecting plastic?
Almost two years. Before that, I worked in public sanitation, collecting garbage on a truck, but it was a government job. There came a point when it became very difficult for me to stay there, for many reasons; the worst was that the operators constantly fought over what we found in the garbage; there were times when it ended in fistfights.
What did you fight over?
Well, people underestimate garbage, especially here in this poor country, but some throw away things that are still useful: wood, pieces of iron, furniture. I know it’s not like in other places, they’re not perfectly preserved used furniture, but they can still be useful. Some people have nothing or take advantage of raw materials.
Some garbage collectors had bags tied to the back of the truck where they separated materials to recycle. In the plastic bag, they put bottles of colognes, creams, or deodorants, which they later sold to people who repackage them. Even glass bottles had their own bag. There are many people who make a living selling these homemade hygiene products, because they’re made at home but with raw materials sourced from factories, like Suchel, for example. Someone “acquires” the alcohol or the essence or the vaseline or the lauryl sulfate and makes the cream, shampoo, or perfumes, for example. Then they put it in one of those bottles, add a label, and sell the finished product at a lower price than in stores.
My wife convinced me it was a good business to devote myself full-time to collecting plastic on my own, and I agreed. She knows; her job is selling. She has a small stand where most of the items are made from recycled plastic, and she knows they’re in high demand. You can’t always find what you need in the trash, so I have to walk through most of the capital’s municipalities. I also go to a small private factory in Cotorro where they give me some pieces, always paying for the favor.
Where do you take the recyclable materials?
I take the materials to a warehouse in San Miguel del Padron. They inspect it, and if it’s useful, they weigh it. Sometimes they pay me 1,000 pesos, other times 1,200. I never know how much the load I bring weighs, nor have I checked how much the kilo pays in other places; I prefer not to know. The important thing for me is that they pay me right away. So far, I haven’t had any problems with them, maybe because they see that I’m calm and satisfied with what they give me, although the right thing would be to know the real price per kilo and be clear about the business. I try to accumulate enough product to make a single trip. Moving around with that amount of material is exhausting. Most of the time, I do it on foot, like today.
Do you know how they process that material?
I’ve heard they process it at high temperatures with an injection molding machine, which works with a combination of heat and pressure, melting the plastic, then adding color and pouring it into different molds. Some of those machines come with their own molds; I imagine they’re very expensive, but here there are also homemade ones, just like the molds. I don’t really know where the factory is because my job is to collect and sell the plastic.
What do you think about the pollution caused by the excessive use of plastic?
Imagine, this is the age of plastic, it’s used worldwide. I know that when working at high temperatures, harmful substances are released, so precautions must be taken, and protective measures used. Of course, it’s harmful to the environment, both to the land and the sea and everything that lives in it. It’s an endless cycle. A few weeks ago, I was by Havana Bay, and it was full of waste.
Of all the plastic you can sell, what pays the best?
The best are the garbage containers; it’s the perfect material because it’s sturdy and large. I know many people steal them, but I don’t; I prefer to keep looking for smaller things and stay out of trouble. Some people have been fined and even jailed because they were caught taking the bins. When I worked in public sanitation, defective bins disappeared frequently. They also have other uses for some people: storing water or food for animals, transporting food in processing centers. They clean them well and use them for everything. The wheels are used for fruit vendors’ carts and for shopping carts.
So the bowls, cups, plates, and buckets sold on the street, are they made from garbage containers?
Could be. I imagine that once the plastic is processed, the new container is free of dirt and bacteria; I don’t know. It wouldn’t occur to me to use a bowl for storing food without washing it first; however, outside Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor, they sell them, and people put ice cream in them without knowing how clean they are.
Your wife works at a sales stand; does she have good sales?
Yes, although she would like to do something else. She spends a lot of time sitting because the space is tiny. When she needs to go to the bathroom, it’s a problem; you can’t trust just anyone these days to watch the spot. She’s very good at selling, as they say in good Cuban slang. All the stands at the fair have the same products; well, I think it’s the same throughout Cuba. The advantage is that they also buy products wholesale, so if you buy a lot, they give you some extras. Then they can sell a bit cheaper than others. She sells plastic sandals; maybe I provided the material to make them…
The toys are what she sells the most: trucks, guns, Spiderman figures. My grandson has one of those little trucks; he throws it everywhere, and it doesn’t break. They’re not as nice or flashy as the ones in stores; they’re more rudimentary, but they’re what parents can afford; the others are sold too expensive and in MLC (magnetic dollars).
Do you feel good about your job?
Yes, it’s temporary. There has always been a collector of raw materials, a street vendor, someone who makes products clandestinely; what changes are the conditions, the life you can live with what you do. To say that people in Cuba live without working is a science fiction story. I myself, when I gather a little money, sometimes disguise myself as a street vendor; first, I buy things, then I go out to sell them, and I spend the whole day carrying the load, walking several kilometers under the sun. What do I buy? Buckets, basins, mops, brooms… which, coincidentally, are also made of plastic.
