Waste Management and Pollution Control
Kiribati has been selected as the venue for an important regional meeting on hazardous waste management in the Pacific. Representatives from 13 Pacific island countries and territories – will be gathering in Tarawa later this month for the Third Steering Committee Meeting of the PacWaste project.
PacWaste (Pacific Hazardous Waste) is a €7.85 million, four year project supported 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. PacWaste has four focus areas - asbestos, E-waste, healthcare waste and integrated atoll waste management.
PacWaste Project Manager, Mr Stewart Williams explains that Kiribati was selected as the venue for the upcoming meeting so as to enable participants to witness, first-hand, some of the unique challenges faced by low-lying atolls in sustainably managing waste and to encourage south-south co-operation and information exchange.
"The relative isolation of atolls and their small land area can make sustainable waste management very challenging. On Tarawa there has been some encouraging work taking place such as the lagoon landfilling system at Nanakai and the Kiribati te boboto 'Green Bag' programme which was funded through the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We hope to discuss how we can apply lessons learned from these projects to planned PacWaste activities in Kiribati and other countries in the Pacific."
The announcement of the Meeting has been welcomed by the Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agriculture Development (MELAD). Mr Taulehia Pulefou, Officer in Charge of the Environment and Conservation Division at MELAD stated:
"This a very good opportunity for Kiribati to showcase our waste management success stories as well as demonstrate challenges on the ground. It will also provide the opportunity to engage with other people across the region and share our experiences."
Mr Jesús Laviña, Head of Section for Natural Resources and Infrastructure at the European Union Delegation for the Pacific, Suva explains that PacWaste has a substantial array of activities planned for Kiribati:
"The European Union is pleased to be supporting hazardous waste management in Tarawa and, indeed, throughout Kiribati. Some of the activities that we have planned include healthcare waste management training, the provision of incinerators to Tungaru Hospital on Tarawa and London Hospital on Kiritimati, and asbestos removal works at four locations in South Tarawa."
During the visit to Tarawa, PacWaste will also be launching an E-waste pilot project through which training will be provided in how to safely extract and export valuable or hazardous materials from old electronic and computer equipment.
The Third PacWaste Steering Committee Meeting will take place from 19 – 22 October, 2015. Representatives from Cook Islands, Federated States or Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu will be in attendance, alongside delegates from the European Union, SPREP, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and observers from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
PacWaste (Pacific Hazardous Waste) is a €7.85 million, four year project supported 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. PacWaste has four focus areas - asbestos, E-waste, healthcare waste and integrated atoll waste management.
Poor waste management is a major threat to sustainable development in the Pacific region. Photo: C.Iacovino/SPREP
PacWaste Project Manager, Mr Stewart Williams explains that Kiribati was selected as the venue for the upcoming meeting so as to enable participants to witness, first-hand, some of the unique challenges faced by low-lying atolls in sustainably managing waste and to encourage south-south co-operation and information exchange.
"The relative isolation of atolls and their small land area can make sustainable waste management very challenging. On Tarawa there has been some encouraging work taking place such as the lagoon landfilling system at Nanakai and the Kiribati te boboto 'Green Bag' programme which was funded through the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We hope to discuss how we can apply lessons learned from these projects to planned PacWaste activities in Kiribati and other countries in the Pacific."
The announcement of the Meeting has been welcomed by the Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agriculture Development (MELAD). Mr Taulehia Pulefou, Officer in Charge of the Environment and Conservation Division at MELAD stated:
"This a very good opportunity for Kiribati to showcase our waste management success stories as well as demonstrate challenges on the ground. It will also provide the opportunity to engage with other people across the region and share our experiences."
Mr Jesús Laviña, Head of Section for Natural Resources and Infrastructure at the European Union Delegation for the Pacific, Suva explains that PacWaste has a substantial array of activities planned for Kiribati:
"The European Union is pleased to be supporting hazardous waste management in Tarawa and, indeed, throughout Kiribati. Some of the activities that we have planned include healthcare waste management training, the provision of incinerators to Tungaru Hospital on Tarawa and London Hospital on Kiritimati, and asbestos removal works at four locations in South Tarawa."
Success stories and lessons learned from the Kiribati 'Green Bag' programme will be showcased at the upcoming PacWaste Steering Committee Meeting in Tarawa. Photo: Alicey Leney.
During the visit to Tarawa, PacWaste will also be launching an E-waste pilot project through which training will be provided in how to safely extract and export valuable or hazardous materials from old electronic and computer equipment.
The Third PacWaste Steering Committee Meeting will take place from 19 – 22 October, 2015. Representatives from Cook Islands, Federated States or Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu will be in attendance, alongside delegates from the European Union, SPREP, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and observers from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).