Handover Ceremony for Shipping Container Donated to NGO Precious Plastic Mauritius

On Tuesday, January 26, a handover ceremony was held to mark MOL's donation of a 40ft shipping container to the non-government organization (NGO) Precious Plastic Mauritius and the opening of the facility made from the refurbished container.

Precious Plastic Mauritius, founded in 2019 by Valery de Falbaire, is an NGO based in Pointe d'Esny, Mahebourg, that seeks to provide recycling solutions by collecting waste and at the same time cleaning beaches and mangrove sites. Once a week, volunteers ride around neighborhoods on bicycles with trailers attached, collecting plastic trash, mainly bottles, for recycling into colorful items such as coasters. Until last year, plastic was recycled, and small items were produced on a trial basis in a small workshop in the corner of this residential area, but starting in January of this year, Precious Plastic obtained the right to set up a new workshop in the Youth Training Centre on state-owned land at Point Jerome in Mahebourg.

The container will be used to set up workshops, which will provide vocational training to fishermen in the Mahebourg area, where the facility is located, to teach plastic manufacturing and sales techniques and for kids to learn how to recycle plastic into various decorative items.

In collaboration with the NGO Precious Plastic Mauritius and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation, MOL (Mauritius) Ltd. organized a handing over ceremony to inaugurate the refurbished container donated to the NGO.

On hand for the event were Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation, Honorable Jean Christophe Stephan Toussaint, Ambassador of Japan, His Excellency Shuichiro Kawaguchi, Counsellor Korehito Masuda of the Japanese Embassy in Mauritius, Precious Plastic Mauritius Founder Valery de Falbaire, MOL (Mauritius) Managing Director Goro Yamashita, CELERO Group Executive Chairman Marc Dalais, CELERO Group CEO Patrice Maury, and various representatives of the ministry and distinguished guests from the NGO.

The ceremony began with an opening speech by de Falbaire, underscoring the tremendous support of the Ministry as well as MOL (Mauritius) in holding the event. After his remarks, Yamashita from MOL (Mauritius) spoke about MOL's commitment to engage in activities to support the inhabitants of the area and promote its long-term development and sustainability. Minister Toussaint then took the floor to stress that this aid demonstrates the support and solidarity of the Japanese government in Mauritius. Ambassador Kawaguchi, for his part, emphasized the importance of reviewing waste management and ended his speech by reaffirming Japan’s willingness to work with Mauritius in the context of disaster prevention.

MOL will continually support activities to restore the environment and improve the lives of local citizens.