5 March 2015: The Fifth Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific convened under the theme ‘Multilayer Partnerships and Coalition as the Basis for 3Rs Promotion in Asia and the Pacific,’ and included a focus on Reduce, Reuse & Recycle (3R) in small island developing States (SIDS). Participants considered the challenge of managing garbage, particularly plastic waste in waters and coastal areas, and Pacific SIDS stressed the usefulness of container deposit legislation (CDL) to enable sustainable funding of waste management.

The meeting was convened by Indonesia’s Ministries of Environment and the of Public Works, the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, and the UN Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), from 25-27 February 2014, in Surabaya, Indonesia. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Japanese Technical Cooperation Project for the Promotion of Regional Initiative on Solid Waste Management in Pacific Island Countries (J-PRISM) co-supported the regional Forum.

Pacific countries represented included: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. SIDS representatives took the opportunity to share experiences of implementing national 3R initiatives including an eco-bag and eco-school programme in the Solomon Islands, and an organic waste management programme in Vanuatu.

According to UNCRD, multi-layer partnerships among key stakeholders are essential for effective promotion and implementation of 3Rs, a concept intrinsically linked with resource efficiency in various sectors including agriculture, industry and energy.

The high-level 3R Forum first convened in 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, and seeks to continue the promotion of the 3Rs in the Asia and Pacific region through high-level policy dialogue, sharing of experiences, and by encouraging multi-layer partnerships. [SPREP Press Release] [Meeting Website]