3 February 2014: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) announced it is implementing a four-year, €8 million project titled ‘PacWaste,’ focused on high-risk hazardous wastes. The project will focus on asbestos waste, E-waste and healthcare waste.

Funding by the EU under its 10th European Development Fund (EDF 10), the project will establish integrated and ongoing systems to manage or destroy electronic E-waste, healthcare and asbestos waste. It is hoped that such systems will reduce the exposure of local residents to high-risk and cancer-causing waste streams.

The project will commence with regional baseline studies to prioritize key areas for intervention. Pacific countries involved in PacWaste include: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste. [SPREP Press Release]