Businesses in Luganville have teamed up with New Zealand companies to set up Vanuatu's first recycling scheme for printer toner cartridges, mobile phones and chargers.
The local supermarket LCM will store cartridges and phones collected at dropboxes throughout the town, before the goods are shipped to Auckland by Pacific Direct Line and then recycled by Croxley Recycling - all for free.
A waste management specialist and VSA volunteer, Mary O'Reilly, says until now, such products have been thrown into the landfill and don't break down.
She says as business in Luganville grows, so does the need to recycle office products.
"The printer toner cartridge, while it's a very small waste stream, the business sector in Luganville is growing so its quite a good waste stream to start working on. We've also introduced a cardboard recycling programme for the businesses. And even just doing that, which now is second nature for businesses and households in New Zealand, that's just such a new concept for them."
Mary O'Reilly says it is expected a shipment will be sent to New Zealand for recycling once a year.
