Works Minister, the Hon. Clarence Terceira.

Dr. Terceira is waiting for the Island's newspapers to respond to his appeal that they change to "green'' inks.

He has asked them to experiment with vegetable inks like newspapers in the United States.

Presently most newspapers use lead-based inks which can cause problems when the papers are recycled. The vegetable ink is made from soya beans.

"I have asked the newspapers but they have not responded yet. Hopefully they are investigating the possibilities,'' Dr. Terceira said. "Most places are changing over to vegetable inks rather than using the lead inks.

"When we send them off for recycling we are aware that some places may not be able to recycle because of the lead content.'' Dr. Terceira also said Government is now looking at using shredded newspapers for bedding for horses.

He said: "Once they have been used then the remaining paper will be taken away and used for manure. If there is lead content in the paper then it will go into the soil and possibly affect anything that grows.'' Mr. Keith Jensen, general manager of The Royal Gazette Ltd., said the company is investigating the possibility of introducing soy-based inks for black-and-white printing. It already uses soy-based inks for colour processing.