Former President Bill Clinton announced Tuesday that the Clinton Foundation has awarded a $250,000 grant to a Haitian recycling plant that seeks to clean up Port-au-Prince and neighboring districts, while unclogging the many canals that are filled with discarded plastic bottles and other bits of trash, the Associated Press reports.
The grant was awarded to Sustainable Recycling Solutions, a business that pays hundreds of Haitians to collect recyclable materials from trash heaps and landfills. Once the scraps are sorted, they are turned into new products, clothes, lumber, furniture and toys.
"This is a big deal," Clinton told reporters before the end of a two-day trip to the Caribbean nation, AP reports. "It will clean up Port-au-Prince. It's good for the environment. It will stop the clogging of a lot of places in the city."
The former president also visited an apparel manufacturer that began production in October. AP notes the company will use half of its profits to offer health care and education programs for is 100 employees who make T-shirts, yoga pants and other clothing for customers like Whole Foods Market Inc.
Read more at Associated Press.