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International Waters Project

Strengthening the Management of Waste in Kiribati

What is the Kiribati International Waters Project?

The Kiribati International Waters Project (IWPK) is working to find cost-effective ways to improve the management of solid and liquid waste. The IWPK is co-managed by the Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agriculture Development (MELAD) and the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.

The IWPK is working closely with the South Tarawa pilot community of Bikenibeu West and partners such as the local councils and the NGO, “The Foundation for the People’s of the Pacific – Kiribati (FSPK).

At the community level the primary objective of the IWPK is to reduce the volume of solid waste generated by Bikenibeu West by 20% by December 2006. The IWPK is also using the practical lessons generated in the community to promote the development and implementation of a national plan to improve the management of solid waste.

What is the problem?

"Use the Green Bags"

Every year the 40,000 people living in South Tarawa generate 6,500 tonnes of waste – threatening the health and wellbeing of everyone living on this low-lying atoll. Surveys have found that up to 80% of this “waste” could be sorted, composted, and recycled – with only 20% needing to be safely disposed of in the country’s new sanitary landfills.

Traditionally households sweep all their mixed waste into communal piles in the street for collection by the Council. Although many householders pay an annual fee of $10 the Council collection is often infrequent and inefficient. The result is that open, uncontained, piles of rubbish have become a standard fixture in the community.

This practice:

• Attracts vectors such as rats and flies
• Makes many areas of the community look like open rubbish dumps
• Encourages the sense that rubbish can be thrown anywhere
• Encourages people to throw out their valuable green waste
• Encourages people to mix their green waste with their inorganic and hazardous waste (such as batteries)
• Reduces civic/personal pride in surroundings
• Encourages the practice of using certain public areas and beaches as a public toilet.

The Council is also continuing the practice of illegally dumping mixed waste along foreshore areas – often at the invitation of landowners who want to reclaim land for future building.

What is the IWPK doing to address these problems?

The IWPK believes there is a vital need to reinforce and build on the successes of programmes such as FSPK’s Kaoki Mange! recycling programme.

In November 2004 the Kiribati Government introduced a Container Deposit recycling system. This system is now paying people to remove cans and plastic bottles from the environment and the new Kaoki Mange! Materials Recovery Facility is shipping this material back to Australia.

A small (5c) deposit is placed on drink cans and plastic bottles at import. People can now return their cans and PET bottles to a collection point, which buys them back at 4 cents each, with one cent going to help finance the operation. Kiribati only has 5c pieces, so consumers bring 5 items at a time for 20c. In this way, this material is removed from the waste stream by use of a simple economic tool.

It is hoped that this new recycling operation will eventually be privatised and the system will be fully self-financed by money raised from the deposits and the sale of recycled materials.

In order to develop a sustainable waste management system IWPK is exploring how similar self-funding schemes can be put in place for the remaining waste streams, such as the organics, and the non-recyclable inorganics.

In mid-2004 IWPK began to promote a series community “competitions” as a way of promoting key waste reduction behaviours. The competitions were designed to encourage residents to reduce littering, compost plant material in “Banana Circles” and separate their remaining “waste” into the new biodegradable “Green Bags” for collection and disposal by the Council.

A “Banana Circle” is a simple composting method where several banana trees are planted around a hole lined with cardboard and any plant waste is simply fed into the hole. Sometimes grey water from the kitchen and laundry is piped in to feed the banana roots. This helps to keep organics out of the landfill and helps to protect the groundwater lens.

A separate Greenbag competition was designed to raise the profile of the biodegradable Greenbag as an important tool for sorting waste - and to start preparing people for the possible introduction of a ‘user pays’ system where the cost of the Greenbag could be used to finance the collection and disposal service. The IWPK is now planning to introduce a 6-month trial in the community of a user-pays system based on the sale of the Greenbags.

Banana Circle, Tarawa

The IWPK has been working to promote the following key messages in Bikenibeu West:

• Use “Banana Circles” to compost your green waste
• Recycle your cans, plastics, cardboard, and batteries at your local Yellow “Kaokimange” Container
• Put your remaining inorganic rubbish in the biodegradable “Greenbag” for collection by the Council on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• Stop littering
• Stop the dumping of waste in private landfills, public areas and beaches

The IWPK is using it's community-based lessons to promote the adoption of a National Waste Strategy with clear targets for waste reduction and a Waste Authority with a clear mandate and legal responsibility for managing the collection and disposal of waste in South Tarawa.

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