Economic costs of waste in Tonga / by Padma Lal and Lilieta Takau

Tonga could make economic savings of approximately TOP 6.5 million through improved solid and liquid waste management nationwide. The estimates are based on some key assumptions about functional relationships between the nature and volume of waste and human health effects, waste and the coastal ecosystem and fisheries, as well as the effects of waste on tourism and the aesthetic value residents place on a clean environment. Given the paucity of scientific information, there is an urgent need to collect solid scientific information about the causal relationship between waste and its direct and indirect effects on fisheries, coastal ecosystems and human health. Despite this limitation, the economic values presented in this study can serve as a powerful advocacy tool to better target education and extension programs that advocate for reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste.