30 Nov 2006

Marshalls group cleans up rubbish dump

3:12 pm on 30 November 2006

A Marshall Islands non-governmental group has begun dealing with garbage that has been neglected by government agencies.

With grant support from the US government, the Marshall Islands Conservation Society has set up recycling and management operations at the dump site.

It's the first major recycling and composting operation at the government landfill in the capital, Majuro.

Our correspondent Giff Johnson says workers are now sorting out the rubbish.

"They're going to appeal to people to help out, and that's a pretty impressive little bit of education and awareness going on, but its still early days, just been going on for several weeks now, but possibly if they can stick with it we can start to see some big changes to waste management in Majuro."

Workers are separating greenery, plastic bottles, glass and vehicle batteries at the landfill for recycling.