26 August 2015: The Pacific Hazardous Waste (PacWaste) project coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has released baseline surveys of asbestos risks in 13 Pacific small island developing States (SIDS). The surveys find a large number of sites containing asbestos posing possible risks for human health, including unmanaged stockpiles and asbestos-containing building materials, such as insulation and roofing.

The surveys aim to enable PacWaste and the 13 countries – which encompass 25 islands – to prioritize remedial actions. The countries are: Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

A proposed US$2 million PacWaste follow-up intervention program would rank sites for remedial actions using accepted asbestos risk management methodology, with top priority given to dealing with asbestos materials in public and government buildings, where many members of the public are exposed to asbestos hazards, such as schools and hospitals. The program also would provide personal protective equipment and training in proper asbestos removal and handling, help in removal and clean-up of unmanaged asbestos stockpiles, and assistance in developing and strengthening relevant policy and regulatory frameworks.

PacWaste is a €7.85 million, four-year project funded by the EU and implemented by SPREP, aimed at improving hazardous waste management among Pacific island countries in the priority areas of asbestos, e-waste and healthcare waste. PacWaste also funds a best-practice demonstration project on atoll waste management on the Marshall Islands atoll of Majuro. [SPREP Release] [PacWaste Website] [PacWaste Asbestos Survey Reports]