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40 41 E coGas FreeZoneN .V.is a subsidiaryof EcoTechAruba N.V.,a companyestab- lished in 1999,under the umbrella of the Aruba-based,MetaCorpN.V.Metacorp’s business interests includemovie theaters,a heavyequipment transportation company,a Co- ca-Cola bottling plant,which includes a brewery for the production of a local beer,a ready-mix concrete company,which alsomanufactures blocks and pavers,stevedoring concerns in the country’s ports,a recycling plant that turns dem- olition rubble into aggregate andwashwater from the bottling plant into semi-potablewater for use in the concrete plant,and the aforemen- tioned,EcoTech,which offers a suite of waste management collection programs for commer- cial,industrial, residential,andmaritime clients. BusinessViewCaribbean set out to find out exactlyhowandwhy this companyhad come about,and also,howit navigates to assistAruba in strengthening its commitment to the im- portant and timely issues of sustainabilityand renewable energy.In doing so,we discussed EcoGas’s beginnings and evolutionwith itsMan- agingDirector,RamseyHalabi andMetaCorp’s CEOEddydeVeer. “Wewanted to do something better with the municipal waste that we collected,which rep- resents between 35 and 40 percent of all mu- nicipal waste on the island,”Ramseyand team reported.“It was going to an open landfill,which was an environmental challenge. EcoTech start- ed first,with recycling,and the recyclable prod- TURNINGWASTE INTO FUEL ECOGAS FREE ZONE N.V. AT A GLANCE ECOGAS FREE ZONE N.V. WHAT: A waste-to-energy company WHERE: Barcadera, Aruba WEBSITE: www.freezonearuba.com