News - Nov 7, 2024 Depot Handover: Outer Island Communities Closer to a Clean Environment

The outer island communities in the Cook Islands are one step closer to a cleaner environment.

It follows the decision by the Department of Waste to utilise their SPREP PacWaste Plus investment to provide recycling collection depots to enable their outer island communities to participate in the upcoming (Cook Islands) or existing (Tuvalu) recyclable materials “Buy-Back” projects.

“It is really important to us that our Advance Recovery Program is equitable to our pa enua,” said Ms Claytoncy Taurarii, Director Waste Management at Infrastructure Cook Islands. “We learnt from other schemes in the Pacific that only the capital islands have collection depots, but we felt it is important to design our scheme so all households in the Cook Islands can participate equitably from day one, to claim their refund and benefit from a cleaner environment.”

The depots and all equipment and signage needed to operate the program have formally been handed over to the Ministry of Infrastructure Cook Islands, and the Government of Tuvalu, with plans now in progress for the depots to be shipped to each of the outer island and mounted and commissioned safely.

The 10ft sea container depots were selected as they are big enough to be the collection point for the expected throughput from the communities, and small enough to ensure safety during domestic shipping.  Equipment to operate the depots safely and undertake basic pre-processing of the collected material incudes manual bottle/can crusher, sacks, signs, maintenance kits, wheelbarrows, table, chairs, and cyclone tiedowns.

Cook Islands General Transport Ltd was selected the supplier of the depots, equipment, and signs.

“We are proud to have contributed to this important initiative,” said Ms Jessie Sword, Business and Logistics Manager.

“We see this initiative as a natural extension of our two decades of experience in recycling in Rarotonga. The provision of the recycling infrastructure to communities will empower people to undertake effective recycling programs. This will not only help maintain a cleaner environment but will also promote sustainable practices and educate future generations about the importance of the circular economy and responsible management of natural resources”.

Ms Sword extends her best wishes to Tuvalu and Cook Islands as they implement the projects.