A group of recyclers are call­ing on Fijians to actively engage themselves with re­cycling works in the country.

In a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, Pacific Recycling Foun­dation (PRF) director, Amitesh Deo, said they were still receiving questions from the public about why they don’t have recycling and upcycling facilities.

He said without everyone’s partic­ipation, it was difficult to sustain the recycling concept.

The discussion was on: ‘Environ­ment and Recycling Work in Fiji’.

“There also needs to be a clear un­derstanding about recyclables and what should be done with them,” he said.

“In a country like ours where we have less than a million people, vol­ume is a huge issue when it comes to sustained recycling concepts.”

Creative Aspect of Recycling Art­ist, Suzanne Turaganiwai, said more awareness and support from members of the society, groups and partners was needed, especially with more important input from the younger generation.

Ms Turaganiwai said this was to enhance recycling waste manage­ment in the country.

Recycling on the Go head ambas­sador at Jai Narayan College, He­fuhelava Kamaile, empathised on the need for active participation in the recycling and waste manage­ment space.

“So to my view, students they make up an important percentage of the young and educated popu­lation and therefore, they should be the ones setting up the future trends as far as environmental pro­tection is concerned,” she said.

In light of this, Pacific Islands Development Forum secretary gen­eral, Solo Mara, highlighted that youths and relevant stakeholders were needed in having active par­ticipation by the public.

The discussion was an initiative of the French Embassy in partner­ship with the PRF and supported by the Government of New Caledo­nia and Bred Bank Fiji.

Story By:: josefa.babitu@fijisun.com.fj