In less than five years the Tafaigata dump will be filled to capacity and the Samoa Recycling and Waste Management Association (S.R.W.M.A.) has urged Samoans to start recycling their waste.

The S.R.W.M.A. President Maria Keil is at the forefront of pushing the recycling initiative in Samoa for a much healthier environment for all Samoans to enjoy for years to come.

Samoa currently exports waste out of the country, such as e-waste which includes old electronics and computers as well as plastic as Samoa does not have a recycling plant.

The S.R.W.M.A. has carried out several recycling projects to help reduce the amount of waste in the country

“We want people to be more conscious of recycling waste and change their mindsets to help maintain and improve the health of our environment,” she said.

“We have more recyclable waste coming in now from the recycle bins, which shows that people know more about recycling waste, but it also goes to show how much waste production there is in Samoa.”

The Tafaigata Dump is a one-stop-dump-site where garbage from trucks is directly offloaded. There is no sorting of rubbish into piles, neither at source nor at the dump.

PacWastePlus was part of the Consultation workshop for Samoa Waste Audit results in December 2021. The Samoa Waste Audit was supported by the World Bank in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Waste Audit report provided a snapshot of waste generation and composition across the business and household waste streams on the islands of Upolu and Savaii.

The study found that almost 26,982 tonnes of wastes are generated annually in Samoa with paper and cardboards comprising the largest at 6,258 tonnes per year. This was followed by end-of-life vehicles at 5,880 tonnes per year and organics at 4,674 tonnes per year.

Some of the S.R.W.M.A. projects include the production of glass sand for tar in repairing roads, a solution made to recycle glass waste and reuse it. This pilot program proved to be a great success but still requires work in moving to the next step of their plans.

“We want to encourage people to recycle and shift their mentality and do acts of kindness for the environment so we can fight against climate change and maintain our beautiful environment,” said Ms. Keil.

"If necessary steps are not taken to reduce waste production in Samoa, the landfill can start to fill out before the five years are up and this is a big concern for the environment's health."