There is one thing that is always a certainty when a disaster strikes, and that is increased waste will be created by the disaster.

The Pacific region is identified to be the most prone to natural disasters and climate risks such as tropical cyclones, flooding, earthquakes, and tsunamis. These natural disasters generate large volumes of waste within a very short period of time.

Being able to effectively manage disaster waste in a timely manner, is a measure of a country’s resilience, and necessary to effectively recover and return to normalcy.

Given the impact of waste on local food and water source, waste management is now being mainstreamed into countries’ National Disaster Management Office frameworks on Disaster Risk Reduction, especially focusing on disaster response and recovery works.

Ms. Sainimili Bulai, PacWastePlus Technical Waste Project Officer, said, “While considerable efforts have been focused on predicting and building resilience to climate change related disaster impacts, the national management of debris and waste after each disaster event is still largely ad-hoc and uncoordinated.”

This is where the Framework for Resilient Development under Goal 3 and the Regional Disaster Waste Management Guideline come in. These two regional frameworks empower the waste management sector and provide an opportunity for waste management to be officially recognised and mainstreamed into National Disaster Management frameworks.

“When a disaster is declared, the National Disaster Management Office (DMO) becomes the primary authority controlling all response and recovery efforts by all Ministries and Agencies. So while the Department of Waste is the technical lead on waste management, unless the Department’s role is officially recognised by the NDMO under the national Disaster Coordinating structure, the Department’s ability to do their, job may be limited,” Ms. Bulai added.

Mr. Fa’afetai Sagapolutele, an expert on waste management who has been working in the region for more than 30 years and is currently with the Japanese Technical Cooperation Project for Promotion of Regional Initiative on Solid Waste Management in Pacific Island Countries, highlighted an issue that is commonly faced by Pacific island countries during disasters.

“Usually after every disaster, we are bombarded with an influx of unsolicited bilateral donations. These come in the form of shipping containers filled with clothing items, non-perishable food items, and mountains of plastic water bottles,” Mr. Sagapolutele said.

“Most of our Pacific Island countries do not have the capacity to effectively manage and distribute these donations and so the sad reality is that most of these items end up in the landfill,” he added.

Mr. Sagapolutele presented that Prevention of these and other occurrences that can result in the build-up of waste is the first step of the Disaster Waste Management cycle, which can help in the reduction of waste post-disaster.

The Response, Recovery, and Reconstruction stages of the cycle is where the importance of a circular approach comes in, as it is then that the goal of trying to divert as much waste from the landfill as possible. This is usually done at the community level.

“You will see after a disaster; locals will collect and reuse materials such as iron roofing to be rebuild their houses while they await assistance from the government, and large trees felled by cyclones are often chopped up and used to rebuild fence posts,” he added.

The disaster waste discussions were held on the third and fourth days of the Regional Circular Economy workshop in Port Vila, Vanuatu, which discussed how a circular approach can contribute to more effective waste management practices for a cleaner Pacific.

Although asbestos is a hazard, when properly maintained, it is possible to live safely, and mitigate any risk posed. This animation quickly provides some guidance on the risk of asbestos. Further resources are available for asbestos management from the SPREP virtual library.

PacWastePlus is about to commence asbestos abatement activities in Niue with the repackaging and removal of approximately eleven (11) 1.5m³ Hazibags and about 25 smaller sealed white bags containing asbestos fragments.  The material will be secured and safely transported to New Zealand where it will be disposed of to the New Zealand standards for asbestos disposal.

Representatives of the abatement consultancy, Morecroft Environmental, visited Niue in August to inspect the stored asbestos and confirm the workplan for the abatement activity.  Whilst in Niue, 10 local staff members (8 men and 2 women) received training in asbestos abatement, and are now certified to assist the Morecroft team to undertake the works in November 2024, following the conclusion of the Niue 50-year independence celebrations.

The impacts of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is evident in every aspect of life in Tuvalu.

While the rising Pacific Ocean threatens shelters and homes of communities across the narrow coastline of the atoll nation, soil salination has adversely affected the land and non-resistant food plants such as taro, bananas, breadfruits, and vegetable gardens.

Mr Siliako Letueti and his family who are amongst less than 12,000 residents in the country have seen and experienced the impacts of this scenario over the years.

But they are not just sitting idly and letting the impacts get the better of them. Mr Letueti works for the Tuvalu Department of Waste Management (DWM) as the Waste Education and Awareness Officer. In this role, he has made the work to recycle food and other organic waste into compost an essential part of his mission.

“For us in Tuvalu, we have to be innovative and look at other ways to cultivate our land,” he said. “Anyone who has been to our country would already have seen the struggles we have when it comes to gardening and farming. So composting in Tuvalu is very important for people here because our soil is very poor in terms of the nutrients required for it to work. For the Tuvalu Department of Waste Management, we put a lot of work into encouraging our community to utilise organic waste and not just discard them.”

Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as vegetation and food scraps, into a valuable product that can enrich the soil and increase crop yield. It provides a range of environmental benefits, including improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing leachate, and increasing climate resilience.

“Due to the low-lying nature of our island, the sea water is not just a threat over the land but it is also now coming under the soil which affects the quality of trees, crops and vegetables we plant. The soil has become salty,” said Mr Letueti. “So for us this is a matter of survival. We have to use everything at our disposal, including chicken manure, pig manure in our compost mixing and we try to promote this here in Tuvalu for people to use in their home gardens for fresh vegetables and fresh fruits for healthy living.”

The Tuvalu Department of Waste Management has been working with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, through the Pacific – European Union (EU) Waste Management Programme (PacWastePlus), to build the capacity of the Pacific nation to understand and manage organic waste. PacWastePlus Technical Waste Project Officer, Ms Hillary Boyes, said the challenge is about changing the narrative that organics is waste.

“Organic materials are not a waste, they are a resource and we can do beautiful things with it like we are seeing here in Tuvalu today,” said Ms Boyes.

On Day 2 of the PacWastePlus pre-Steering Committee Meeting programme in Funafuti, representatives from Pacific countries visited the Tuvalu Department of Waste Management composting site where they were given a demonstration of how the atoll nation is turning organic material into a valuable resource.

“Here in Tuvalu, it’s a sandy atoll, the soil is very saline and nothing grows without a boost of nutrients. Using organics to improve soil quality means they can use it to grow crops, their food and most importantly they can use it to keep their economy going.”

The message about organic waste is one that Ms Boyes and the PacWastePlus project are keen to reverberate across all Pacific countries.

“Organics make up 50 percent of landfills across all the Pacific islands. In a landfill, organic material is what turns into methane, it’s what makes the odour, and when it’s mixed with all sorts of plastics and other wastes, it can be a real problem for landfills. In fact our landfills are rapidly overfilled with organic materials,” Ms Boyes added.

“What we are encouraging our Pacific countries to understand is that they should see organic material as a resource, it’s a very valuable resource. By using a composting system which is low tech, low investment and a little bit of training and using our traditional knowledge, we can turn that into a valuable resource that we can use to grow plants and grow our food.”

The PacWastePlus’s pre-Steering Committee Meeting activities precede the 4th Clean Pacific Roundtable scheduled in Tuvalu from 5- 9 August 2024. Delegates from Pacific countries embraced the push to view organic waste as a resource.

After the visits to the Tuvalu Department of Waste Management (DWM) composting facility and the Taiwan Technical Mission’s Fiafia Garden nearby where the idea is put to use, one participant said: “I never understood the importance of composting and the impacts of organic materials until today. This is definitely an eye opener and one I would like to explore further for my country.”

The PacWastePlus Programme is piloting the ise of tailored behaviiour change projects to achieve waste management outcomes, as opposed to simply using education messages. Three countries (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) are implementing these pilots.

The behaviour Change Showcase was an opportunity from representatives from all PacWastePlus participants countries to learn about the pilots, actions taken and explore how they could utilise similar processes in their context to meaningfully engage with their communities and effect real change in behaviours.

A project designed to ensure the safe and sustainable management of waste with due regard for the conservation of biodiversity, health and wellbeing of Pacific island communities is making a tangible difference in 15 Pacific countries where it is being implemented, contributing to a Cleaner Pacific.

The Pacific-EU Waste Management Programme (PacWastePlus), funded by the European Union and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), which is now in its final year of implementation, is also contributing to stronger regional economic integration and the sustainable management of natural resources in the Pacific, through seven regional projects it is rolling out.

The achievements of PacWastePlus were highlighted during its 5^th Steering Committee Meeting at the Rt Hon. Dr Sir Tomasi Puapua Convention Centre, Funafuti, Tuvalu on Friday 2 August 2024. The meeting precedes the 4^th Clean Pacific Roundtable (4^th CPRT) scheduled at the same venue from 5- 9 August 2024.

“Since the project came into Tuvalu, we’ve seen tremendous improvement in effective management of waste here on Funafuti, as well as our outer islands,” said Ms Pepetua Latasi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Home Affairs, Climate Change, Environment and Waste Management.

“For Tuvalu in particular, we import nearly 80 percent of goods from construction materials, medical supplies, food and everything else. As a result, you can see from there the amount of waste generated from this importation which we require assistance to address. We are very thankful and appreciate the support that has been provided through the project over the recent past trying to manage the different wastes generated on a daily basis in Tuvalu.”

The sentiments were echoed by Mr Haden Talagi, Niue’s Director of Environment.

“I am happy to say that PacWastePlus is making a significant difference through current activities, initiatives in motion and already implemented on the ground to improve the management of waste in our country,” said Mr Talagi.

“I like the action-oriented nature of the project which is the main thing a lot of Niueans want to see, touch and feel. People don’t want to see another report but they want to see action on the ground and that is what PacWastePlus brings to the table in terms of helping us deal with different types of waste.”

In all Pacific countries working with the project, baseline waste audit reports have been developed. Pilots of behaviour change projects are already in motion in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

The Kingdom of Tonga has already endorsed its Asbestos implementation Ban and Asbestos Management Code of Practice. Other Pacific countries are working towards theirs.

Vanuatu is amongst nine countries working to improve or introduce Product Stewardship legislations, to ensure that whoever designs, produces, sells, or uses a product takes responsibility for minimising the product’s environmental impact throughout all stages of the products’ life cycle, including end of life management.

Timor-Leste is amongst six countries where PWP is working to repair or install healthcare waste incinerators. It is also working to develop National Strategies for healthcare waste, asbestos management, and e-waste and is promoting the implementation of organic waste programmes, like it is rolling out in Tuvalu.

SPREP’s Director General, Mr Sefanaia Nawadra, said this is just some of the work PWP is undertaking and he acknowledged the European Union for allowing the extensions and modifications to the project to adjust for the hardships caused by COVID.

“The European Union’s continued support of the region, and for SPREP as an implementing agency is greatly valued for SPREP and our members. PacWastePlus along with the under completion PACRES and ACP MEA project follow EU geographic designations for ACP and include Timor-Leste,  having the largest geographical coverage and until the recent signing of the GEF ISLANDS project and Weather Ready Pacific Initiative, was the largest financial programme,” said Mr Nawadra.

“We should celebrate the successes of your efforts, but we cannot slow down or become complacent – there is still much work to be done in the remaining twelve months of the project. I look forward to hearing you all share your actions today, and more importantly I look forward to hearing the confirmation of the remaining tasks, and your commitment to their delivery.”

Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific, Mr Maurizio Cian, said all these accomplishments would not have been possible without hard work of SPREP and the cooperation of the countries.

“The European Union has been supporting sustainable waste management in the Pacific for the past ten years. It is our common goal that our investments create a lasting impact and improve the quality of life for communities across the Pacific,” said Mr Cian.

“I would also like to thank SPREP’s Programme Management Unit for your dedication through the past years of implementation and for organising this event for us today. I would also like to thank Tuvalu for hosting us and to all the country delegates and project partners being part of this journey. Despite the progress, I see that there is still a lot of work ahead of us as we look into the last year of the programme implementation.”

Whether it is dealing with disposable diapers in Vanuatu, improving waste management in Solomon Islands or changing mindsets about how to dispose e-waste at the Ensisi Valley in Papua New Guinea (PNG), the work of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to encourage behavioural change towards waste management in Pacific communities was highlighted in Funafuti Tuvalu today.

The opportunity to do this came during the one-day Pacific – European Union (EU) Waste Management Programme (PacWastePlus) Behaviour Change Showcase and workshop at the Funafuti National Conference Centre.  It was designed to highlight current waste management behaviour change projects PacWastePlus is undertaking, and to encourage similar projects in other Pacific communities.

Representatives from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, reflected on what they found exciting about their behaviour change project, how the communities have responded and some of the key lessons that could be applied to similar contexts in other Pacific communities.

“Vanuatu has a major issue with disposable diapers, if you go into the communities, a lot of people will tell you it’s an eyesore. When people don’t put disposable diapers in the right places, the dogs pull them away and spread them all over the place so it’s a major waste management issue in the community. There are so many disposable diapers in the landfill it is also affecting the landfill,” said Ms Roselyn Bue, Senior Officer of Vanuatu’s Department of Environment.

“So through this project, we are working with people to change their mindsets not just in dealing with disposable diapers but looking at alternatives that are more environmentally friendly. We are beginning to see a change but it will take time.”

Solomon Islands is taking a similar journey to address waste management in the Tuvaruhu community on the Mataniko River. While the Honirara City Council is responsible for waste collection, it comes with many challenge. The project aims to reduce waste disposal and dumping in the Tuvaruhu community while promoting proper sorting, recycling, upcycling, and composting to provide community members with opportunities for responsible waste disposal and value creation.

“This is really important for our country, especially in improving waste management. One of the challenges in the Solomon Islands is people’s attitude towards waste, so this project is timely to work with local communities within the Honiara boundaries, the outskirts of the Honiara town,” said Mr Michael Suinao, Senior Environment Officer.

“Since the pilot project started, we are seeing that people especially in the outskirt communities are showing interest in what we are trying to do. Dealing with waste in households is quite important and one of the things we have noticed is that there seems to be a shift in attitude towards better management of wastes at home.”

Ms Patricia Torea of PNG agrees, noting that changing mindsets and attitudes towards e-waste is going to take some time to achieve the best results. The project at the Ensisi Valley in PNG engages the community to properly manage and dispose of electronic waste.

It aims to decrease the disposal and dumping of e-waste, as well as reduce the amount of unused e-waste in homes and the community. It also looks at activities that will enable community members to repurpose unused products into valuable items, offering them opportunities for responsible disposal of e-waste and creating value within the community.

The project utilises workshops and training sessions to empower community members to repurpose electronic devices, turning them into new and useful products and improve services provided by NCDC for e-waste collection within the community.

“Our goal is to get people to change their attitudes and thinking when it comes to e-waste,” said Ms Torea. “We are starting to see that happen, people are starting to hesitate in terms of what to do when they come across e-waste, I think before they did not think twice when disposing e-waste with all other wastes. Since we started this project, people are now starting to think more and more about how they will deal with this waste stream within their households and within the community.”

Through the showcasing of best practice examples from the Pacific region, participants gained a deep understanding of when and how behaviour change work can create impact at a community level and at scale.  The workshop focussed on the fundamental principles of identifying opportunities for behavioural design projects, and requirements for successful implementation of behavioural interventions.

Mr Bradley Nolan, Programme Manager, PacWaste Plus said the opportunity to highlight the work PacWastePlus is doing in the communities and explore how to expand behaviour change projects to other Pacific countries is a key goal for the one-day gathering.

“Improper waste management in the Pacific Islands results in heightened disease exposure, ecosystem damage, and reduced tourism income, among other impacts,” he said.

“We are really keen to explore how our member countries can use behavioural change in their work to effect real change to address the environmental challenges facing countries.  Why shouldn’t environmental manager utilise the same tools as multinationals to influence behaviour, especially when we can use it to protect the environment and lives of the communities we serve, as opposed to just making money.”

The European Union (EU) Waste Management Programme (PacWastePlus) Behaviour Change Showcase and Workshop, facilitated by Mr Rohan Doherty and Ms Jennifer McBride of ThinkPlace, precedes PacWastePlus’s Steering Committee Meeting on Friday, and the 4th Clean Pacific Roundtable also scheduled to be held in Funafuti next week.

Managing organic material is a lot more efficient for the Majuro Atoll Waste Company (MAWC) in the Republic of Marshall Islands, with the arrival of a new heavy-duty chipper.

The new bright orange mobile chipper is currently in operating at the dumpsite, processing the organic material received into mulch for transport to the compost facility.  Once this commissioning phase is over and the team familiar with the equipment, the chipper will be towed around the communities collecting and processing organic material at source.

The chipper was carefully chosen to process the high fibrous vegetation such as coconut fronds and pandanus common in Majuro.  MAWC, in partnership with the EU-funded and SPREP-implemented PacWastePlus programme, undertook significant research prior to selecting the chosen chipper.

“Our existing chippers operate using blades,” said MAWC Operations Manager, Ms Jacqueline Lakmis. “We found we could only operate them for a limited time before they were jammed or overheated. This new chipper operated with a large drum, it sure makes short work of processing our tough this woody vegetation. We recommend this equipment to other Pacific nations.”

PacWastePlus Technical Officer, Ms Hilary Boyes joined the MAWC team for a morning during the processing of the organic material.

“The drum-chipper really preforms well.  In about 2.15hr, we processed approximately 15m3 of tough organic materials such as whole pandanus plants, large dry coconut fronts, some tree trunks up to about 12 inches, even a couple of whole coconuts got into the input feed.  The chipper processed them all with no hesitation.  It was very satisfying!”

“The research suggests that ‘drum style’ chippers are better for processing this woody vegetation compared to blade, disc, or flywheel style chippers,” continued Ms Boyes  “I am pleased we spent the time to get the right chipper for the MAWC team.”

The chipper underwent manufacture modifications to ensure it was fit for purpose for Majuro – with a larger engine to manage the expected volume of material and a swivel output feed so the team can choose whether the mulched material is blown straight onto the dump truck or sideways onto people yard.

The 15m3 was converted into about 5m3 of mulch. PacWastePlus will shortly publish a case study of the specs of the chipper and its performance processing the material in Majuro to assist other pacific countries to make an informed decision on the chipper appropriate for their vegetation.

Before selecting equipment, PacWastePlus recommends buyers to read operating manuals carefully and speak to suppliers and experts. If the manual only refers to wood as a suitable input or the manufacturer cannot supply evidence of the equipment managing high fibrous vegetation, further research may be required.

The Tuvalu Department of Waste Management (DWM) is determined to keep their communities safe from the potential hazard of asbestos though accurate data collection and assessment.

Director of DWM, Mr Epu Falega, knows the consequences of not addressing the issue and is working to do everything possible to safeguard his country and people.

“By learning the location and quantity of asbestos in the Outer Islands means we can manage the interaction with the asbestos, employ safe practices if there is any disaster situation, and make a plan for its eventual removal and remediation,” he said. “By knowing where the asbestos is we can help our communities live with it safely.”

The DWM Waste Education & Awareness Officer, Mr Siliako Letueti Alofi, who is also the Acting Operation, & Waste Auditor, has just returned from the Tuvalu island of Niu where he completed the first successful survey of all buildings to understand location of asbestos.

The assessment was undertaken using new technology, the microPHAZIR, supplied to the DWM by the EU-funded and SPREP-implemented, PacWastePlus programme.  The microPHAZIR is a handheld analyser tool that enables safe, non-invasive, in-field rapid screening and identification of all six types of regulated asbestos fibres.

Mr Letueti was provided training on the use of the tool and asbestos identification and was supported remotely by experts at Hibbs Hazardous Material consultancy and PacWastePlus. “I identified and sampled all cement material on the island of Niu to confirm whether it contained asbestos or not,” he said.
“The survey covered all 148 buildings on the island, with 17 samples not able to be obtained as the material was too high up.  Out of the 131 samples, 19 tests contained asbestos, including the 2 roofs of the old chapel which have been in Nui since 1925.”

Mr Letueti recorded the location and extant of asbestos found so a plan can be made for its long term management and remediation.

He also completed an awareness programme with 60 representatives from the community, including 20 men, 20 women and 20 youth, to educate the community on how to live safely with asbestos in Nui.

“The main message is that in Tuvalu the asbestos product we have is cement sheeting.  This material does not pose a risk if it remains undamaged,” he said.

“If it gets damaged and fibres are exposed though cutting or sawing or grinding or by blowing over in high winds, and the fibres are breathed in, they can cause diseases such as lung cancer.  The best thing for us to do in our community is to leave asbestos alone.

“Don’t disturb or cause dust. Don’t drill, saw, or grind.”

Vanuatu’s Department of Environment Protection and Conservation (DEPC) is serious about improving waste management in the country.

Under the guidance of the Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management, Hon. Minister Ralph Regenvanu, and in partnership with a Council of Minister approved multi-agency Working Group, the DEPC team is working closely with global experts to design a Product Stewardship Scheme (PSS) to manage beverage container waste in Vanuatu.

“We see a PSS scheme as an effective solution for waste management in Vanuatu.  This is our year to get the scheme designed,” says Roselyn Bue, Senior Officer at the DEPC.

“With the Working Group and other donors such as J-PRISM II, we have been researching schemes 2017.  The deposit element will incentivise our communities to recycle their beverage containers, and the fee elements will provide financing for the materials handling / export and scheme administration.

“A PSS scheme will assist Vanuatu to sustainable manage our beverage container waste for the long term and provide economic benefits for our communities.”

During the latest Working Group Meeting on 26 June, Minister Hon. Regenvanu reemphasised that the goals of the scheme include both environmental and social benefits for Vanuatu. It is designed to reduce litter and improve recycling, provide for equality and create new employment opportunities in all provinces across Vanuatu.

Dr. Christina Shaw, CEO of Vanuatu Environmental Science Society, and key member of the Working Group is keen to see the scheme progress.

“In other countries we hear that it is the Private Sector importers and manufacturers of beverage containers blocking schemes or slowing them down. Here in Vanuatu the biggest importers and manufacturers are real proponents for a scheme, they want the scheme to start, they see the benefit for Vanuatu,” she said.

Searious Business have been engaged though the EU-funded SPREP-implemented PacWastePlus programme to assist the DEPC and the Working Group to finalise the scheme design for Vanuatu.

The Searious Business bring expertise of PSS / deposit schemes from around the world and will undertake consultation with scheme stakeholders and complete financial modelling of scheme options for DEPC and the Working Group to make informed decisions.

Searious Business will then assist the DEPC with scheme legislative drafting elements, and developing the operating procedures and contract templates to allow a scheme to be “tuned on” when approved by the Vanuatu Government.