About us
About PacWastePlus
The impact of waste and pollution is taking its toll on the health of communities, degrading natural ecosystems, threatening food security, impeding resilience to climate change, and adversely impacting social and economic development of countries in the region. The PacWastePlus programme will generate improved economic, social, health, and environmental benefits by enhancing existing activities and building capacity and sustainability into waste management practices for all participating countries.
Key Objectives
Outcomes & Key Result Areas
The overall objective of PacWastePlus is “to generate improved economic, social, health and environmental benefits arising from stronger regional economic integration and the sustainable management of natural resources and the environment”.
The specific objective is “to ensure the safe and sustainable management of waste with due regard for the conservation of biodiversity, health and wellbeing of Pacific island communities and climate change mitigation and adaptation requirements”.
Improved Data Collection Imroved data colletion, information sharing, and education awareness
Policy & Regulation Policies and regulatory frameworks developed and implemented.
Best Practices Enhanced private sector engagement and infrastructure development implemented
Human Capacity Enhanced human capacity.
Governance
PacWastePlus
Governance
The programme brings together key organisations supporting the waste and pollution sector in the region, with SPREP as the entrusted implementation agency. The Pacific Community (SPC) and the University of the South Pacific (USP) will be implementing partners contracted by SPREP for specific activities in line with their core expertise and responsibility.
Additionally, the PacWastePlus programme is partnering with numerous other development partners operating waste management projects in the region, to ensure no duplication of efforts or wasted resources.
Logo
The programme logo was designed jointly by the PacWastePlus communications officer and design consultants as part of the programme’s Communications and Visibility Plan, using symbology that captured the essence of the Pacific Region, including the representation of the 15 member countries and ideology based on our project work that focuses on a circular economy.
The 15 members are represented by the leaves which feature Pacific designs with the colours representing our Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Timor-Leste country members. The green branch design represents not only a circular economy but also the PacWastePlus project itself which brings all member countries together to enhance waste management practices, policies, and advocacy in the Pacific.
Our latest resources
Guideline
Practitioner’s Guideline on Depollution on End-Of-Life Vehicles: Depollution Guideline
The main objective of this guideline is to provide practitioners in the automotive and waste management industries with a comprehensive and practical resource for executing effective depollution processes. This guideline aims to encompass the entire lifecycle of an end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), from the initial assessment of hazardous components to the final destination of depolluted and hazardous materials.
By outlining step-by-step procedures, safety measures, and disposal protocols, this guideline seeks to minimise environmental contamination and promote the safe handling of hazardous substances. This guide was developed for PacWaste Plus participating countries to address the ELV depollution before being baled and shipped to the designated country where further ELV processing can be done.
The target audience of this guideline are the managers and technicians at the depollution and dismantling site, and other local recycler owner-operators. This guideline does not constitute binding regulation and is developed for advisory purposes alone.
Resource Template
21 Step Advance Recovery Fee and Deposit (ARFD) Workbook
Designing and implementing a successful, evidence-based ARFD is a multifaceted process, requiring the collection of data, undertaking meaningful stakeholder consultation, and acknowledging and incorporating differing views to make decisions to meet the specific local needs. It may feel like a daunting process. The 21-Step Pathway breaks the process down into logical, manageable steps.
This Workbook is designed to assist users through the completion of each of the 21 steps at a self-managed pace. Each step on the 21-Step Pathway is a chapter in the Workbook.
This Workbook can be used by anyone seeking to design an ARFD scheme to be set in legislation or regulation. It will be of value to by any individual or group involved in the design of an ARFD scheme, for example:
• Government representatives investigating the feasibility of an ARFD scheme or who have been tasked with developing a scheme
• A Working Group tasked with developing a scheme, or contributing to one or more steps of the 21-Step Pathway
• Private Sector or NGO representatives seeking to assist with the design of an ARFD scheme, or contributing to one or more steps of the 21-Step Pathway
The broad goals of an ARFD Scheme are to improve rates of recycling through the provision of an incentive for consumers to recycle (by providing an immediate financial reward (the refund of their “deposit”) when they drop eligible items at a depot), changing behaviour away from littering, burning, or disposing to landfill, and a self-sustainable funding source for governments/recyclers to undertake the collection, transport, processing, and export/recycling of recoverable materials (using the “fee” component which is calculated as the true cost of recycling each eligible item), providing an economically viable ability to undertake recycling/transfer activities long term, not reliant on variable government funds.
Regional
Introduction to a Pacific Circular Economy
Globally, consumption patterns generally following a linear “take-make-waste” model. In the Pacific and Timor-Leste this means that items are imported or manufactured, and, at the end of their useful life, there are limited viable alternatives but for the items to be disposed into overflowing landfills or the environment. When items are disposed without recycling, we are throwing away precious materials, resulting in the need for new resources to be extracted.
This linear model impacts Pacific islands and Timor-Leste by contributing to :
• overflowing landfills – waste disposed estimated at 1,141 tonnes per day
• marine pollution - marine plastic pollution potential of estimated at 365 tonnes per day
• terrestrial pollution (burned, buried, littered, or dumped) - estimated at 227 tonnes per day
• and climate change, and biodiversity loss effects.
The costs of this linear model are borne by national and local governments for landfill management – cost of disposing waste for the region an estimated USD $44,293 per day1 – and by the health of communities and the environment.
Meet our team
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Bradley Nolan
Project Manager
Mr. Bradley Nolan is the PacWastePlus Project Manager. Bradley, an Australian National, is responsible for all elements of the project design and implementation, and works directly with donors and partners to ensure the best possible outcome is achieved through the donor funding.
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Lance Richman
Technical Waste Project Officer - Hazardous Waste
Mr. Lance Richman is the PacWastePlus Technical Waste Project Officer - Hazardous Waste. Lance is a national of the United States with more than 30 years’ experience in hazardous waste management and pollution control.
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Sainimili Bulai
Technical Waste Project Officer - Solid Waste
Ms. Sainimili Bulai is the PacWastePlus Technical Waste Project Officer – Solid Waste. Sainimili, a Fiji national, has a wealth of experience in waste management gained from her time at the Fiji, Department of Environment, Ministry of Waterways and Environment.
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Hilary Boyes
Technical Waste Project Officer - Resource Recovery
Ms. Hilary Boyes is the PacWastePlus Technical Waste Project Officer – Resource Recovery. Hilary, a New Zealand national, has more than 13 years’ experience as an Environmental Adviser from numerous countries including New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Cook Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu.
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Nitish Narayan
Communications Officer
Mr. Nitish Narayan is the PacWastePlus Communications Officer. Nitish, a Fiji national, has over 20-years of experience in communications and is leading the programme’s communications and visibility activities.
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Sela Soakai-Simamao
Finance and Procurement Officer
Ms. Sela Soakai-Simamao is the PacWastePlus Finance and Procurement Officer. A Tongan national, is responsible for the financial management, procurement activities, and management support to the PacWastePlus program team.
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Crystal Schwenke
Technical and Administration Officer
Ms. Crystal Schwenke is the Programme’s Technical and Administration Officer. Crystal, a Samoan national, is providing project assistance and support to the Programme Management Unit and country focal points on the implementation of the PacWastePlus Programme
Does your company provide waste management and recycling technological support?
We are interested in providing member countries with easy to access information on companies that either accept waste materials, or can supply waste management technology – register your companies details here.
Our implementation agency and donor
PacWastePlus is supported by the following organisation and donor:
Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
Programme implementation agency.
Our Programme Partners
PacWastePlus is supported by the following projects and organisations
SWAP
The Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific (SWAP) Project is funded by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). SWAP will span Fiji, French Polynesia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna with technical backstopping of New Caledonia.
GEF ISLANDS
SPREP and UNEP spent all of 2019 and 2020 undertaking a region-wide consultation with 14 of its members to develop a project proposal to be submitted to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat under its 7th round of funding. The GEF ISLANDS Project will commence in 2021 and will be implemented in 14 countries in the Pacific Region (Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu) with a budget of $20 million
Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP)
In 2019 the Australian Government commenced its Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP), implemented by SPREP, with a commitment of AUD $16 million. POLP aims to reduce single use plastics (such as plastic bags, take-away food packaging, plastic cutlery and straws, and PET bottles) in the coastal environments of Pacific Island countries.
JPRISM II
JICA/SPREP Solid Waste Initiative In order to realize the commitment of the Government of Japan at the 2nd PALM (Japan-Pacific Leaders' Meeting) in 2000, JICA started assisting PICs in terms of solid waste management in collaboration with SPREP.
Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF)
PRIF provides an interface between development partners and its Pacific member countries to improve the quality and coverage of infrastructure and service delivery. It works to enhance coordination of PRIF partner investments in the Pacific and provide technical advice on infrastructure development and sustainable infrastructure management to PRIF partners and member countries.
Inform project
The Inform project will establish a Pacific island network of national and regional data repositories and reporting tools to support the monitoring, evaluation, and analysis of environmental information, which supports environmental planning, forecasting, and reporting requirements.
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