City of Okayama to Conduct Lecture on Recycling Practices

NOTE: The following is a joint release from the University of Guam & the Guam Visitors Bureau.

(Tumon, Guam) The city government of Okayama will be returning to Guam from July 3-6 to meet with island leaders and educate the community on waste recycling practices. Officials will also be providing a lecture during their visit.

The lecture entitled, “Spreading Waste Recycling Practices – Ways to Use Waste Separation Collection Bins”, will be at the Guam Reef & Olive Spa Resort from 11 a.m. to 12 noon on July 5th.  It will be held in the Pandanus Pavilion and conducted by Dr. Takeshi Fujiwara.

Last October, the City of Okayama and business community donated 30 recycle bins to Guam to encourage recycling throughout our island. The bins have separate compartments for plastic, aluminum, and paper and feature the Guam Seal, Okayama City Seal, and a logo expressing the friendship between Guam and Okayama designed by an Okayama University student.

The Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) has distributed the bins and encouraged businesses and organizations to adopt a bin and promote recycling.  The donation is part of an active relationship the City of Okayama established with Guam in a Memorandum of Friendship that was signed on August 31, 2010 by the Mayor of Okayama and then Governor of Guam Felix Camacho.

“In 2012, Governor Eddie Calvo met with the Okayama Delegation here at GVB when they first announced their intentions to donate these bins,” GVB Acting General Manager Nathan Denight said.  “After much collaboration and hard work by GVB together with UOG, our members and the Islandwide Beautification Task Force, we are excited to have received these bins on behalf of the people of Guam and use them to keep Guam cleaner and more sustainable.”              

The donation project was supported by the City of Okayama, the Okayama Chamber of Commerce, the Congressional Association for Friendship between Okayama City and Guam, and Okayama University. Additionally, the donation was made possible by research completed through an on-going cooperation of agreement in collaborative research and student exchange between the University of Guam and Okayama University. In January 2013, interns from the UOG Center for Island Sustainability assisted Okayama University in a survey project to determine the best areas to place recycling and waste collection bins. Okayama University started the joint survey and recycling implementation project in 2012 after Dr. Takeshi Fujiwara of Okayama University noticed that tourists in Tumon were lacking access to recycling and waste separation facilities.

"The University of Guam and Okayama University have cultivated this partnership for over 10 years, which has now resulted in a developing relationship between our island and Okayama City,” said Dr. Robert A. Underwood, UOG President. "The donated recycling bins will further our island's efforts in reducing the amount of recyclable waste entering the landfill and will contribute to Guam's 'Green Dream'."

Recycling Bins have been adopted by:

1. Agana Heights Elementary School

2. Agana Shopping Center

3. Baldyga Group

4. DFS Guam

5. Guam International Airport Authority

6. Guam Legislature

7. Guam Premier Outlets

8. Guam Visitors Bureau

9. M.U. Lujan Elementary School

10. Micronesia Mall

11. Pacific Islands Club

12. Pay-Less Markets

13. The Plaza

14. Tumon Sands Plaza

15. Two Lovers Point

16. University of Guam

Media Contact: JOSH TYQUIENGCO - Public Information Officer