Sustainable financing systems, such as the Cook Islands Advanced Recovery and Disposal Fee, are legislative instruments designed to create a way to sustainably fund waste management and recycling. These systems are used successfully around the world to encourage recovery of end-of-life products, and to ensure governments have access to enough funds to divert recoverable items from landfill and into reuse or recycling.
Systems are designed to improve rates of recycling through a:
- “refund”, which provides an incentive for consumers to recycle, offering an immediate financial reward when they drop items at a depot, changing behaviour away from littering, burning, or disposing to landfill.
- “fee”, which provides for the collection, processing and export/recycling of items, offering an economically viable and self-sustainable way to undertake these activities long term, not reliant on government funds.
Five schemes are currently in operation in the Pacific, with many other countries actively designing systems for implementation.
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Related Case Studies
These country profiles summarize priority areas, including healthcare waste, e-waste and asbestos, in an effort to improve regional hazardous waste management across the Pacific.
The Advance Recovery Fee and Deposit project aims to create an enabling environment to help improve the collection, management and recycling of waste entering the Cook Islands,
This report presents findings and offers recommendations of an assessment conducted for the Cook Islands on the management of healthcare waste and best practice options for its disposal.
The report, prepared by SPREP in collaboration with (T+TI), presents the findings of the waste audit undertaken for the Pacific island nation of Niue.