Students Involved to Change Mindset
Under the programme, 24 selected students from Jai Narayan College were trained as recycling activists and influencers.
Thursday 14 July 2022 | 15:12
Jai Narayan College students with Minister for Waterways and Environment Dr Mahendra Reddy, Permanent Secretary for Waterways and Environment Joshua Wycliffe and Swire Shipping and Waste Recycler Fiji Ltd representatives. Photo: Waste Recycler Fiji Ltd
The stigma attached to waste management and recycling industry goes beyond those involved in waste picking.
This stigma has also been realised with the Recycling on the Go (ROG) programme that was launched earlier this year.
Under the programme, 24 selected students from Jai Narayan College were trained as recycling activists and influencers.
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Pacific Recycling Foundation Founder and Waste Recycler Fiji Ltd director Amitesh Deo said: “The programme has an ongoing monitoring and evaluation process and it was through this that we discovered that name-calling was even faced by the ROG Ambassadors.”
The concept is that the ROG Ambassadors would go through comprehensive in-house training on recycling.
This was not limited to the practical aspects of waste management and recycling, it also included the industry challenges, trade gimmicks and the struggles of the informal waste pickers.
Mr Deo said, the ROG programme is a first for Fiji, in that it is a student-led pilot project aimed at changing mindsets and attitude towards recycling.
“It is not surprising for those of us involved in the recycling space that name- calling is a large part of the trade, however, we were a bit take back that even these young recycling activists have been subjected to such behaviour,” Mr Deo said.
Some of the students had expressed feel- ing disempowered from the name-calling and teasing while they had tried to advocate for recycling.
The Pacific Recycling Foundation has been formed with the core objective to provide support structure to individuals engaged in waste picking, in particular women and members of the LGBTQ community. The vision is if these individuals get empowered, there will be an improvement in the collection for recyclables.
“The ROG itself is a student-led programme: the ownership of it will remain with the 24 ROG Ambassadors,” Mr Deo said.
“As such, we will continue to empower these young advocates so that they can continue with their journey of activism and leadership.”
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