Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme

Solid Waste Management

Lack of proper waste management practices always has negative impacts and serious consequences for health care, environmental quality, water resources, fisheries, agriculture, tourism, trade, food security, and sustainable development in general. In the Pacific, poor waste management practices are made worse by:

• increases in waste generation caused by economic and population growth
• limited availability of suitable land on small islands and atolls for landfills—made worse by customary land tenures, and "not in my backyard" attitudes
• remoteness of many islands resulting in high costs for imported supplies (e.g. spare parts and fuel)
• small and sometimes sparse populations which limit potential economies of scale
• limited institutional, and human resources capacity, and the fact that solid waste financing has not kept pace with growth in waste quantities

In the face of these challenges, the strategic approach to solid waste management in the Pacific islands region is directed by the Pacific Regional Solid Waste Management Strategy 2010-2015.

• Tonga Tonga
• Tuvalu Tuvalu
• Tonga Tonga
• Kavieng Kavieng
• Tangatapu Tangatapu
• Landfill Landfill
• Cook Islands Cook Islands
• Samoa Samoa
• Tuvalu Tuvalu
• Can Collection Can Collection
• Rubbish Collection Rubbish Collection
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