The Pacific Community’s (SPC) Pacific Adoption of Waste to Energy Solutions (PAWES) project is working with Samoa, Tuvalu, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to complete their feasibility studies on Waste to Energy (WtE) technology by September 2023. The feasibility study will provide available options, costings, suppliers, the necessary required environmental standards, and support needed for WtE solutions in the countries.
This update was reported at the 2nd PAWES Project Steering Committee hybrid meeting held in Suva, Fiji.
To complement this work, the PAWES project team will work with their country counterparts to establish their national WtE policies and roadmaps and will organise consultations and development workshops to progress this work. These policies will enable the national governments to understand and have the capability to make effective and efficient decisions regarding WtE in their national context.
These workshops will also be supported by national Waste to Energy forums, policy consultations and development with the private sector and national stakeholders in the WtE space, creating awareness of WtE within each national context. The workshops will also promote discussions and an understanding of the PAWES Project. This project is only one piece of the puzzle, placing it into the work that is being done at national, regional and international levels.
The steering committee has also endorsed the re-advertisement of the five WtE postgraduate scholarships being offered at the University of the South Pacific (USP) and the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG). The scholarships, one for each implementing country, will see five students conduct research to create WtE solution towards a Master of Science degree.
The committee was also informed that a new full-time Waste Technical Officer (WTO) will be joining the team and will be based with SPREP in Apia, Samoa. The WTO will assist the team to boost implementation as the PAWES project ends in 2024.
“The Pacific Adoption of Waste-to-Energy Solutions (PAWES) project is co-funded by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the ACP Innovation Fund, under the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Research and Innovation Programme. This programme is implemented by the OACPS with financial support from the European Union. The project is led by SPC in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).”
