WASTE Recyclers Fiji Ltd (WRFL) was honoured with the Best Sustainability Initiative Award at the 2025 Prime Minister’s International Business Awards, reaffirming the company’s leadership in Fiji’s recycling and sustainability landscape.
WRFL also won the award in the same category two years ago, marking its continuing commitment to environmental stewardship.
For more than three decades, WRFL has been at the forefront of the recycling industry, not because sustainability is popular, profitable, or convenient, but because it is necessary.
Since its establishment in 1994, WRFL has carried the conviction that proper waste management must be a way of life, not merely a line item in a corporate strategy or a checkbox in an annual report.
WRFL CEO, director and founder of Pacific Recycling Foundation, Amitesh Deo, said this milestone achievement is deeply meaningful to the organisation and the people behind it.
He said the award was not only for WRFL’s continuing perseverance, but for anyone who has ever faced pushback, corporate bullying, closed doors, or felt their voices were not heard.
Mr Deo said the recognition was deeply personal for many reasons.
“Sustainability is not something you do to look good in a report or win an award, it is something you live for,” he said.
“For us, recycling advocates, this has always been our life’s work.
“We have stood firm through years of resistance and silence, and today we accept this award on behalf of every person whose voice was ignored, every organisation that was told to wait, and everyone who continued to believe that change was possible.
“This win is for them too.”
Mr Deo said the award was also of historical significance because it echoed a key milestones in the company’s history, including when WRFL received the Unique Exporter of the Year Award at the Prime Minister’s International Business Awards in 2003.
“Together with its wins in 2003, 2023, and now 2025, WRFL’s legacy reflects not only innovation but consistency, resilience, and dedication to principle.”
Mr Deo said the award was a symbol of what could be achieved when persistence meets purpose, a reminder that the voices advocating for change, even when ignored or dismissed, can ultimately shape national progress.
In a statement WRFL said their journey has not been an easy one.
“For many years, recycling was met with reluctance from key stakeholders, and its importance was often overlooked,” the statement said.
“Despite this, WRFL remained steadfast in its commitment, walking the path of environmental stewardship even when few were willing to join.”
It said the award goes beyond business success.
“It represents every individual and organisation whose efforts went unrecognised for years, every advocate who kept pushing despite the silence, and everyone who believes that sustainability is not a trend, it is a responsibility.”
MP Manoa Kamikamica presents the award to CEO and director of Waste Recyclers Fiji Ltd, Amitesh Deo.
Primanavia choir perform at the Prime Minister’s International Business Awards at Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort, Denarau Island, Nadi.
