waste management

Nua Va’ai is the Vice President of the Samoa and Tokelau Association of Recyclers (STAR), and is also the co-owner of Samoa Pure Water, a bottled water company based in Samoa. 

 She was among women who shared their experiences in waste management during a side event titled “Talanoa on how effective the role of women, youth and communities are in the implementation of the regional multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in addressing waste.” The side event was held at the culmination of the second day of the Third Clean Pacific Roundtable. 

A spokesperson for the Samoa Recycling Waste Management Association, Marina Keil says Samoa does not practice recycling despite an increase in plastic waste polluting roadsides, river sides and beaches.

She says plastic bags and drink bottles in particular are negatively impacting Samoa's natural environment.

Work towards the transformation of the waste management on the small island has been made possible through close collaboration between key players working in the waste sector.

The key players also include donors, regional agencies, national and local government, local agencies, private sector, NGOs and community members.

Majuro atoll in Republic of the Marshall Islands is the site of the PacWaste project's integrated atoll waste management pilot programme.

On 25 August, 2016 at SPREP's Apia headquarters, representatives from both agencies formally signed the Meeting Minutes related to the formulation of the second phase of the Japanese Technical Cooperation Project for Promotion of Regional Initiative on Solid Waste Management in Pacific Island Countries, known as J-PRISM II.

PacWaste is a €7.85 million, four year project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to improve regional hazardous waste management across the Pacific.

Called 'Smart choices for a cleaner, safer Pacific' the poster promotes a range of simple actions that contribute to reduced waste and increased resilience.