Waste producers must be held accountable on how they are managing their waste, says Pacific Recycling Foundation founder Amitesh Deo.
Marking International Day of Zero Waste today, Mr Deo said people must know where recyclables ended up. He said one of the key messages of International Day of Zero Waste was to maximize recycling and it had become necessary to monitor and track where recyclables landed.
“Accountability and transparency remain key to achieving zero waste to landfill,” he said. He said one should question whether waste producing companies were able to trace their recyclables and waste management programs.
“Waste management companies should be able to tell you what happens to the large quantities of recyclables such as paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, and electronic waste that they collect in the name of proper waste management, and if they cannot, hold them accountable.”
He said PRF and Waste Recyclers Fiji Ltd’s management and recycling programs had a monitoring and evaluation framework that collected data, provided feedback, and recorded lessons learned.
He said he was concerned about the massive amounts of recyclables, particularly plastic that were reaching remote areas and outer islands that were not recycled back to the mainland.
According to Mr Deo, the foundation has been in talks with a consultant to conduct a feasibility study on how recyclables could be retained from maritime islands to Viti Levu.
He said the foundation would make an announcement on which models were best to use to retain recyclable items from these areas.
