Small island nations face a host of logistic and financial barriers in attempts to increase local recycling rates. The exportation of recycled material presents a range of benefits for nations with the inability to dispose or reuse waste in an environmentally beneficial manner. This could be due to a shortage of landfill capacity on-island, the risk of hazardous chemical pollution, or the lack of primary industries in the Pacific region. For some waste streams, there is a potential for commodification if export is achieved efficiently.
The report covers six major waste streams identified as having potential for export commodification or are seen as having essential transport requirements due to the lack of disposal capacity on island nations.
It includes a legislative review to understand regulatory barriers to accessing recycling markets and to determine the most viable export destinations, and recommendations for Pacific island countries based on the cost-model results combined with a high-level infrastructure gap analysis of existing resources.