Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Pacific Islands Fact Sheet

Each day, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea generate on average nearly six kilograms of waste per person—the equivalent of each person using 24 one-liter plastic bottles every day. While this volume is comparatively low, communities in Pacific Island countries face significant waste management challenges, including irregular and inefficient waste collection and limited opportunities for recycling. Pacific Island countries may not produce much plastic waste, but they are on the receiving end of significant amounts of waste due to ocean currents bringing other countries plastic waste to their shores. Across the Pacific Islands, solid waste management is also hampered by insufficient financial resources; limited land area; customary land ownership; environmental fragility; insufficient human, financial, and transportation capacity and regulatory frameworks.