Not everything in the garbage can is garbage. Metal, plastics, paper, cloth and other stuff is recyclable and therefore worth money to the entrepreneur. The increased demand for metal in the Far East, particularly China, has created a whole new business for scrap metal recycling. In 2002-2003 paper waste worth RD$130 million was exported. Yet another use for garbage is organic fertilizer. As reported in the Listin Diario, The Dominican Republic is exporting recyclables to Puerto Rico, China, Hong Kong, India, Holland, Japan, the United States and Venezuela. Unfortunately, in spite of the possible benefits that garbage can generate, Santo Domingo’s municipal authorities are not planning on launching any sort of recycling program in the near future. What’s more, Jose Miguel Martinez, from the Santo Domingo Environmental Management and Urban Cleaning Office, says that he feels that recycling should be a private enterprise, and not a municipal one. Studies have shown that Santo Domingo produces enough garbage and other waste to produce as much as 100 megawatts of power for the city. Yet none of the projects that have been proposed have made it beyond the municipal council.