They?re the three watchwords for a cleaner planet: ?Reduce, Reuse and Recycle?. In the past, Mauritius was sorely lacking in the infrastructure and political will needed to promote the latter, but lately an NGO, Mission Verte, has taken it upon itself to bring together all the actors involved in the recycling sector. If the initial response to this laudable initiative has been hugely encouraging, its continued success hinges on the involvement of each and every Mauritian. Yes, that means everyone, you included.

Mission Verte was set up about a year ago by a group of volunteers that decided to do something to stem the increasing tide of litter that is polluting the island. They thus took the step of getting into contact with the country?s different recycling firms, coordinate their efforts and disseminate the information in the cheapest, and greenest, possible way, namely via email. The modus operandi is disarmingly simple, which is perhaps why no one else had ever thought of it before.

?We simply act as intermediaries between recyclers and Mauritians. Up to now, the reaction has been very positive. I think that everyone appreciates being able to do their bit for the environment. It seems like we arrived at the right time. Before there was no real coordination between the different stakeholders. Mauritius aspires to become a sustainable island and recycling is an important component of this ambition?, explains Mission Verte?s Christine Sauzier.

A typical Mission Verte email goes like this: ?Lighter dustbins! Less plastic, paper and cardboard? despite some small coordination difficulties, the results of our selective sorting campaign are encouraging! A lot remains to be done but, together, we will succeed.?

<B>Bulky and needless </B>

The missive then exposes in detail where, when and how people can dispose of their wastepaper, plastic containers and scrap metal. For example, one learns that wastepaper will be collected in Black River on 7th and 21st June, in Grand-Baie and Curepipe on the 14th and 28th June. What better way to dispose of all that bulky and otherwise useless waste than to pass it onto those who will reuse it?

When it comes to plastic bottles and scrap metal, Mission Verte provides the contact numbers and names of companies who specialize in these endeavours. An important factor behind Mission Verte?s success is the fact that most recycling firms now pay for what we consider to be rubbish. Wastepaper goes for Rs 1 per kilo while PET bottles (your run-of-the-mill plastic bottles) fetch Rs 9 per kilo. ?The financial incentive has definitely led to more interest?, opines the general manager of Polypet Recyclers, Akil Ramjaun. Despite this, the plastic recycling company, which employs 50 people, depends on the financial assistance of the bottlers of Mauritius for its survival. Its four trucks crisscross the island in search of plastic bottles. After being collected by Polypet Recyclers, the plastic bottles are sorted according to colour, quality and grade. They are then fed into a compactor and a ?granulator? before being shipped off to Nigeria. His appeal to the Mauritian population is: ?Help us to keep the island clean.? In other words, instead of throwing your PET bottles in the bin give them to us, which makes sense given that the dump in Mare-Chicose will soon reach saturation.

<B>Three dustbins</B>

Mario Marie of LAGTEX, the paper recyclers, says that environment concerns constitute the company?s main raison d?être. The company currently employs nine people but hopes to increase that number to 15 before the end of the year. LAGTEX collects the wastepaper which is sorted and packed to be exported.

Although the 70 tonnes collected monthly are insufficient to make local paper recycling viable, Mario Marie believes that the 200 tonnes required to attain this objective will be reached before the end of 2008. All the more so, if neighourhoods are able to organize their own wastepaper collections before contacting LAGTEX.

According to Christine Sauzier, the ideal scenario will involve each Mauritian home having three dustbins, one for paper, one metal and for plastic. Mission Verte eventually hopes to set up recycling bins across the island. ?It?s not easy to change people?s mindsets?, observes Mario Marie. If necessity really is mother of invention then the advent of recycling might not be that far away.

<B>Contact Mission Verte: [email protected]</B>