Solid waste management (SWM) in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) poses a challenge to
communities, organisations and governments. Pacific islands are often small with limited land
area, and have low population densities with the population spread widely across a large
number of islands.
Increasing globalisation and consumerism within PICs is also leading to increased amounts of
solid waste, in particular plastics and packaging that many countries are not equipped to
appropriately deal with.
Data was collected from three PICs from the community, solid waste service providers and
national governments in order to determine social, organisational and governmental barriers to
effective solid waste management.
Analysis of the collected data demonstrated that:
▪ SWM a key issue across all countries surveyed, though to varying extents
▪ Awareness, access and affordability identified as primary barriers
▪ Community engagement is a crucial aspect of long term success of SWM schemes