Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Pacific Islands Fact Sheet

Each person in the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, generates about one kilogram of waste each day, but these island nations face the added burden of large amounts of other countries’ plastic waste washing up on their shores. This issue is exacerbated by several waste management challenges including irregular and inefficient waste collection systems; limited recycling markets and land for final disposal; and insufficient financial resources, government capacity, and regulatory frameworks.

It is estimated that many urban areas—which comprise 35 percent of the total Pacific Island population or roughly 4.3 million people—collect less than half of the municipal solid waste generated. Given the islands’ limited recycling capacity, most waste is illegally dumped in vacant areas, the ocean, or collected in piles and burned. Waste burning releases harmful chemicals, impacting public and environmental health and contributing to climate change. By 2040, if corrective measures are not implemented, the annual volume of plastic entering the ocean from the Pacific Islands is expected to triple.

USAID is providing regional and country-level support in engagement sites in three Pacific Island. At each engagement site, USAID is piloting localized approaches to address waste management challenges and avert irreversible damage to our oceans, reduce plastic and waste-linked contributions to the climate crisis, and advance other priority development objectives.