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SPREP through the Australian Government funded, Pacific Ocean Litter Project #POLP is working together with Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Samoa (MNRE) to ensure a more sustainable and environmentally friendly Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting #CHOGM, currently underway in Samoa. We talk to the MNRE's Assistant CEO for Waste Management & Pollution Management Division, Ms Katenia Rasch on the efforts undertaken to reduce plastic usage and waste at #CHOGM2024 This includes raising public education and awareness of plastic pollution and the single-use plastic issue in Samoa as well as provisions of waste and skip bins for proper waste segregation, collection and transportation for proper waste management including waste audits and monitoring.

Identifying and evaluating technologies that are suitable for processing plastic waste into commodities, specifically tailored for micro-to-small social enterprise organisations operating within Pacific Island countries. The focus will be on technologies that are scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable, enabling these organisations to contribute effectively to waste management efforts.

This is the report for the project: Assess the effectiveness of bans,levies and other instruments addressing single use plastics on the Pacific islands region, undertaken on behalf of the Pacific Island Litter Project (POLP) at SPREP>

About POLP The Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP) is about reducing the volume of single-use plastics ending up as marine litter in Pacific coastal environments. The 7-year project (2019-2027) is funded with AUD 16 million from the Australian Government and implemented by SPREP in collaboration with the governments and peoples of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. POLP will support the phase-out of specific types of single-use plastics from land-based sources, including household litter and tourism waste. It will also support behaviour change in the users, consumers and producers of plastics and the introduction of alternative products. For more information on POLP, visit: www.sprep.org/polp

Marine litter negatively affects the environment, people and coastal economies around the world. In the Pacific region, the problem is even more severe given countries’ reliance on healthy ocean ecosystems and services. To promote a Cleaner Pacific, SPREP actively participated in the International Coastal Clean-up Day 2023 through the Agence française de Développement-funded SWAP Project, in collaboration with the Australian funded POLP Project, as well as the ISLANDS Pacific Ocean and PLASTIC TIDE TURNERS Projects. Hence, the SWAP project supported the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Samoa to conduct a beach clean-up activity. 55 participants volunteered for the preservation of their environment by collecting 35 kg of waste from the mangrove of the village of Vaovai located in the Falealili District, Upolu, Samoa.

About POLP The Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP) is about reducing the volume of single-use plastics ending up as marine litter in Pacific coastal environments. The 7-year project (2019-2027) is funded with AUD 16 million from the Australian Government and implemented by SPREP in collaboration with the governments and peoples of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. POLP will support the phase-out of specific types of single-use plastics from land-based sources, including household litter and tourism waste. It will also support behaviour change in the users, consumers and producers of plastics and the introduction of alternative products. For more information on POLP, visit: www.sprep.org/polp

About POLP The Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP) is about reducing the volume of single-use plastics ending up as marine litter in Pacific coastal environments. The 7-year project (2019-2027) is funded with AUD 16 million from the Australian Government and implemented by SPREP in collaboration with the governments and peoples of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. POLP will support the phase-out of specific types of single-use plastics from land-based sources, including household litter and tourism waste. It will also support behaviour change in the users, consumers and producers of plastics and the introduction of alternative products. For more information on POLP, visit: www.sprep.org/polp

About POLP The Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP) is about reducing the volume of single-use plastics ending up as marine litter in Pacific coastal environments. The 7-year project (2019-2027) is funded with AUD 16 million from the Australian Government and implemented by SPREP in collaboration with the governments and peoples of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. POLP will support the phase-out of specific types of single-use plastics from land-based sources, including household litter and tourism waste. It will also support behaviour change in the users, consumers and producers of plastics and the introduction of alternative products. For more information on POLP, visit: www.sprep.org/polp

About POLP The Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP) is about reducing the volume of single-use plastics ending up as marine litter in Pacific coastal environments. The 7-year project (2019-2027) is funded with AUD 16 million from the Australian Government and implemented by SPREP in collaboration with the governments and peoples of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. POLP will support the phase-out of specific types of single-use plastics from land-based sources, including household litter and tourism waste. It will also support behaviour change in the users, consumers and producers of plastics and the introduction of alternative products. For more information on POLP, visit: www.sprep.org/polp

About POLP The Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP) is about reducing the volume of single-use plastics ending up as marine litter in Pacific coastal environments. The 7-year project (2019-2027) is funded with AUD 16 million from the Australian Government and implemented by SPREP in collaboration with the governments and peoples of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. POLP will support the phase-out of specific types of single-use plastics from land-based sources, including household litter and tourism waste. It will also support behaviour change in the users, consumers and producers of plastics and the introduction of alternative products. For more information on POLP, visit: www.sprep.org/polp