Remote regions face recycling challenges unknown to most Americans. In Alaska’s isolated communities, residents must either store waste locally or navigate the logistical complexity of transporting materials across vast wilderness to distant recycling facilities. Similarly, Caribbean islands struggle with limited land for waste disposal while being surrounded by ocean, making the transport of recyclables both costly and logistically challenging.
Traditional recycling models simply don’t work in these regions. Alaska’s immense size makes transportation prohibitively expensive, while remote communities often rely on environmentally vulnerable unlined Class III landfills. With regional recycling rates below 4%, Caribbean islands contend with severely overfilled sites like St. Maarten’s “mountain landfill.” Without assistance, valuable recyclables remain trapped, creating environmental hazards and wasting precious resources.
Ryan Air Casa is filled with crushed aluminum cans on a return trip to Anchorage.
Industry Partners Step Up in Alaska
Shipping companies provide the essential connection these communities need. In 2024, Saltchuk companies—TOTE Maritime Alaska, Carlile Transportation, Ryan Air, and Northern Air Cargo—contributed $1.5 million in in-kind transportation to Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling (ALPAR). These contributions power ALPAR’s Recycling Backhaul program, efficiently moving recyclables from Alaska to markets in the lower 48 states. The impact has been remarkable: ALPAR’s Flying Cans program transported 19,000 pounds of aluminum cans and nearly 2,000 bags of plastic bottles in 2024 alone.
In 2024, Tropical moved 2,980 metric tons or 6.5 million pounds of recyclable products, including paper, plastics, glass, and e-waste
Tropical Shipping’s Impact in the Caribbean
In the Caribbean, Tropical Shipping has become the backbone of regional recycling efforts. Last year, we transported nearly 3,000 metric tons (6.5 million pounds) of recyclable materials—including paper, plastics, glass, and electronic waste—back to the U.S. for proper recycling. Beyond marine transport, our Tropical teams actively participate in community cleanup initiatives. In 2024, Tropical’s Trinidad team cleaned Chacachacare Island, collecting over 700 bottles during an international coastal cleanup event. Our team in St. Maarten partnered with the Green Dream Projects Foundation, joining other local businesses and student volunteers to gather and ship over 100 bags of sorted plastics off-island for recycling. Since 2017, Tropical Shipping partnerships have successfully removed an impressive 27.5 million pounds of waste from Caribbean communities.
Tropical Shipping’s Dominica team at work during a beach clean up
The Critical Role of Backhaul Programs
These backhaul programs—utilizing returning ships, planes, and trucks to transport recyclables—represent crucial environmental innovation. Without industry partners helping to move recyclables and hazardous waste to proper facilities, remote communities would have no viable alternatives to environmentally damaging disposal methods. Our partnerships deliver more than just recycling options— they provide essential infrastructure for environmental protection and sustainable community development, demonstrating Saltchuk’s ongoing commitment to the regions we serve.