A rubbish collection initiative by a company has led to the collection of over 1,000 kilograms of general waste and green waste in and around Apia.

The initiative by Swire Shipping Ltd revolved around the 5 June World Environment Day and 8 June World Ocean's Day celebrations and was led by the firm's Country Manager May Keil, who checked with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Ms. Keil said in an email to the Samoa Observer that she was given the go-ahead by the Ministry to proceed and the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster also supported the project.

She said she then reached out to the Samoa Recycling & Waste Management Association (SWRMA) to come on board as a partner in the initiative. Initially, they agreed to focus on the seawall area in Apia for two days but then decided to expand their footprint and do it every Saturday in June.

"I proposed my plan of a seawall clean up but then decided…go big or go home!  So, I extended the clean-up project to every Saturday in June," Ms. Keil said. "Each Saturday morning, we gathered volunteers and met at 6 am to clean up different parts of Samoa."

At the end of June, she said they managed to cover 16.75 km of land, attracted 280 volunteers and collected rubbish for a total of 7.5 hours. The involvement of the SWRMA has also opened the door for the shipping of recyclable and non-commercial goods out of the country, under the Moana Taka Partnership Program between Swire Shipping and SPREP, according to Ms. Keil.

"All rubbish was separated, weighed and disposed of by SWRMA.  With the plastics collected, SWRMA is now preparing to send two 20GP containers under the Moana Taka Partnership Program between Swire Shipping and SPREP which allows containers of recyclable, non-commercial goods to be shipped out of Samoa pro-bono."

The waste collected during the month included 911 kg of general waste, 500 kg of green waste, and 549 recyclable waste that included plastic, aluminium cans, glass and steel.

Ms. Keil said the feedback from members of the public, during their days of rubbish collection, was also good as it has led to behavioural changes in terms of litter.

"We received great feedback throughout the clean-ups, but the one I enjoyed most was 'I usually litter around here… now I can see how ugly, disgusting and annoying it is so I won’t be doing that again!'

"We also received great support from our customers donating sausages, bread, gas, ice-pops, rubbish bags, potato sacks, gloves, masks, and napkins."

While the initiative was led by Swire Shipping Ltd and SWRMA, Ms. Keil added that it wouldn't have been successful without the support of a number of local companies. They included Sai Motors, Uncle Johnny’s, Bek’s Restaurant, Coconut Transporter, Oceania Gas, Moata’a Army Reserve, Mai Company, Samoa Nianda Group, Ah Liki Wholesale, ANZ Samoa, Lynn’s Supermarket, Myna’s Supermarket and DHL Express Samoa.