The Shoppes at Buckland Hills is celebrating the unique accomplishment of one of its longstanding employees, who has collected and recycled over 200,000 cans and bottles from the mall over the past 15 years. In the center of the food court, an exhibit has been put on display to honor the hard work and recycling efforts of Esmond Lee, who has spent more than two decades working at the mall. For most of his time there, he has supplemented his income by separating cans and bottles from the building鈥檚 trash supply and depositing them.
According to the Shoppes at Buckland Hills, Lee has diverted the 鈥渆quivalent of over 20 tractor trailers full of cans and bottles鈥� from reaching local landfills. A month after immigrating to the United States from San Angelo, Jamaica in 2001, Lee gained employment at the mall as a maintenance worker, and he hasn鈥檛 looked back since. Today, the 65-year-old lives in Hartford and brings renewed passion to his job each day in Manchester. He said he learned how to clean as a youth back in Jamaica.