There is presently no single international organization or convention that establishes rules of general application for waste management, potentially creating conflicts and gaps and making it difficult to take a comprehensive global approach to the issue of waste management.
This report considers the relevant requirements applying to waste management under international and regional conventions and non-binding ‘soft law’ instruments, their alignment to the needs of the PacWastePlus participating countries, and common gaps and challenges that arise that might be the basis for developing regionally harmonized approaches.
Several options for regionally-led approaches to address the gaps and opportunities for a regional legislative framework are identified in the report, including the development of technical guidance, model laws and compliance/enforcement training to build a foundation of skills, knowledge, and capacity for waste governance across the region.