About Trinidad And Tobago
Scrap Iron Dealers Association
The Scrap Iron Dealers' Association began in Trinidad and Tobago as a collective of scrap iron dealers who are involved in the business of collecting and sorting of scrap iron to be sold to exporters. The impetus for further development of the Scrap Industry came after the first oil boom impacted this country (1978-1984).
The end of the Arab/Israeli war in 1984 was the beginning of not only high oil prices worldwide but also the discovery of Natural Gas in the deep-water drilling to expand our capacity to feed the Petrotrin refinery with higher volumes of crude.
One of the results was an unprecedented improvement in the quality of life of our citizens. Consumer spending was on the rise, importation of goods from developed countries became a phenomenon, commercial structures and housing developments mushroomed; the quantum of discarded appliances and vehicles on our roads soared astronomically.
By the mid-nineteen nineties, scrap material was evident almost everywhere. Our watercourses, secondary roads, and unoccupied land spaces became littered with scrap. The need to rid our environment of scrap material and waste generated, therefore, became an urgency.
Salvaging and Recycling proved to be high-income and therefore attractive business ventures. Those already involved had, of necessity, to upgrade if the new supply and the demand for space had to be met.
The Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron market was at first, disorganized. Mr. Allan Ferguson, after becoming President of the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA), went about the business of lending order to the industry, while developing his business enterprise. As a result scrap yards and Recycling houses flourished. Scrap yards increased in number from 3 - 4 dozen to 125 in Trinidad and Tobago, a country of 1.3 million people. At present, the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) is responsible for the shipping of hundreds of containers – loads of material to foreign countries weekly.
ALLAN FERGUSON
President | Founder
Mr. Allan Ferguson has become a force to be reckoned with in the area of recycling of steel. He has been responsible for bringing to the industry some semblance of respectability. Whereas in the past – prior to 2010 – the problem of non-regional businesses entering the Caribbean and Cherry picking recycling products for export was a major problem, this is no longer allowed.
Mr. Ferguson has been responsible for introducing policy guidelines for the smooth operation of recycling, generally, and as a result, intrusions have been made into the areas of plastics, styrofoam, beverage containers, cardboard in conjunction with ferrous and non-ferrous forms of waste.
Mr. Ferguson has a wealth of experience in the area of retrieving sunken vessels and other maritime derelicts.
