A three-way partnership between the UNDP, a Samoa Government ministry and a Costa Rica-based company will attempt to effectively address the growing challenge of plastic pollution.

A new public-private partnership formed in 2021 between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), and the Costa Rica-based Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration (CRDC) Global was announced in a press release issued by the UNDP on Monday.

The partnership was made possible with the financial support of the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office through the British High Commission in Apia. The alliance will bring an end-to-end circular solution for plastic waste in Samoa through education and the collection, upcycling, and repurposing of plastic waste into building products, leveraging CRDC Global’s proprietary technology to produce RESIN8 out of hard-to-recycle plastic waste.

The UNDP says this is part of its circular economy for the Recovery of Waste Programme, known simply as the CERO Waste Project, which has propelled Samoa to the forefront of innovation for zero plastic waste islands not just in the Pacific, but globally. 

The M.N.R.E. Assistant C.E.O. Vainalepa Toiata Uili admitted in the statement that the country's reliance on imported goods continue to threaten the island nation's ecosystems.

“Our reliance on imported goods continues to threaten the ecosystems upon which Samoa depends," said Vainalepa.

"Identifying and developing innovative solutions, such as the Recover-Enrich-Appreciate-Prosper (REAP) Education and The Bag That Builds (TBTB) Action programmes, to both manage waste sustainably and change consumption patterns, are therefore critical."

British High Commissioner to Samoa, David Ward, said climate change was a major factor behind the UK government's support for the project. 

“Plastics decompose only slowly, if at all. Yet it need not be this way. Many plastics can be recycled. One other reason why we need to create a circular economy, where we recycle everything that we use, is climate change," Mr. Ward said. 

"Single-use plastics will account for 19 per cent of the world’s carbon budget by 2040. The Pacific Islands Forum has said that climate change is the biggest single security risk to its members. 

"Recycling can help reduce the carbon we put into the atmosphere, causing global warming."

The UNDP Deputy Resident, Verena Linneweber, said the three-way partnership and the use of the recycling technology is a first for the Small Island Development States globally.

“The Bag That Builds programme, inaugurated today and actioned for the first time in the context of an island country, inspires joint action by us all. 

"Different to other clean-ups, all plastic collected has not ended in landfill. Instead, it is being diverted to a circular system for plastic recovery that can accept all types of plastic waste in its conversion to RESIN8, a thermoplastic aggregate for concrete and asphalt applications, another first for Small Island Developing States globally."

The UNDP Resident Representative, Jorn Sorensen, said in the statement that he can already foresee REAP equipping children and youth to become "role models of eco-responsible stewardship".

“Knowledge is power, and education plays a fundamental function in instilling and applying circular literacy from a young age where disruptive innovations alone cannot solve the problem, and mindset shifts are the prerequisite for any transformation," Mr. Sorensen said. 

"In this regard, I foresee REAP will equip children and youth to become effective role models of eco-responsible stewardship."

The CRDC Global founder and Chairman, Donald Thomson, said they are proud to be launching the REAP Education and TBTB programmes in Samoa.

"This unique collaboration will be able to make a lasting change for generations to come, and set the course for a cleaner, climate-resilient, and prosperous future," Mr. Thomson said.

"I believe Samoa will become a beacon of hope and inspiration for countries around the world."

The Recover-Enrich-Appreciate-Prosper (REAP) Education Programme is the first-of-a-kind fun and interactive activity-based programme, combining academic critical thinking skills on resource circularity with practical action through The Bag That Builds (TBTB) programme. 

Its first phase will focus on educating children and youth from more than 30 schools within the Apia urban area, building environmental awareness, knowledge and understanding of the importance of resource circularity. Through a plastic recovery programme called ‘The Bag That Builds’, students will actively lead the segregation of household plastic waste to prevent landfilling and leakage into the environment. 

The first day of the event engaged participants in the actioning of TBTB, with youth activists and representatives from the Government of Samoa, civil society and private sector joining forces in a plastics coastal clean-up along the seawall at the Malaefatu Recreational Reserve, Sogi. 

A mini audit, conducted by M.N.R.E. was done after. It showed a staggering 61.76kg of waste collected in less than an hour. Eighty eight per cent of items collected were plastic, but even more shocking was the number of post-consumer PET plastic bottles found, accounting for 54 per cent of the total plastic waste stream sampled.