Local company Samoa Stationery and Books is shipping out its first 20-foot container of electronic waste rather than throw them into Samoa’s landfills, says C.E.O. Tofilau Fiti Leung Wai. 

Prior to the e-waste initiative kicking off, the usual place to dump electronic waste was Samoa's landfills which adversely affected the environment over the years. 

However, the company, which is one of Samoa's largest bookstores and importer of electronic goods, acknowledged their responsibility to the country and have decided to give back by adopting a more environment-friendly approach to electronic waste.

Tofilau pointed out that through its e-waste partnership with International Labour Organisation (ILO), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Swire Shipping (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme), FORD Samoa and Close the Loop Melbourne Australia, they are now able to ship out their first ever full 20-foot container of electronic waste.

The SSAB E-waste Take back Initiative has enabled a total of 3,681 kilograms of e-waste to be shipped out of Samoa, the C.E.O. added. 

“I am happy that we are able to get our first shipment of electronic waste out of the country but we are far from perfection," she said. 

"There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to the collecting, dismantling and packaging to ensure the consistent removal of electronic waste from beautiful Samoa’s landfills."

The E-waste Project Manager, Nancy Vito Alefosio, appealed for more support from the Government through the relevant Ministries, international organisations, businesses, schools and the general public as it is everyone’s responsibility especially in keeping the country clean.  

Tofilau then acknowledged their partners in the e-waste project, saying: “SSAB would not have been able to do this without the support from its valued partners such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), MNRE, Swire (SPREP), FORD Samoa and Close the Loop in Melbourne Australia.

"Continued hard work went into the collection, proper dismantling and packaging of e-waste for shipment." 

Tofilau also made reference to the support from the ILO National Coordinator, Laufiso Tomasi Peni for the Green Jobs Initiative which enabled six individuals to get temporary employment opportunities in the project over the past four weeks.

Nathan Atiifale, who is an intern in the e-waste project, acknowledged the opportunity to work under project so he can help his family and contribute to keeping Samoa clean and green. 

The primary objective of SSAB under the e-waste project, since its initiation in 2018, is to prevent electronic waste from getting dumped in Samoa’s landfills and to help keep Samoa clean and green.