Solid Waste Management in the Pacific: Financial Arrangements

Effective SWM requires adequate funds to cover a range of activities involving designing and building recycling centers, landfills, and other facilities; buying collection vehicles, compactors, and other equipment; operating SWM services, including paying for fuel and staff salaries; training staff; and assessing needs, monitoring services, and other planning and administration tasks.

The budgetary requirements for SWM are substantial and have been estimated to account for 20%–50% of municipal expenditures. In the Pacific, volumes of solid waste have been growing in line with rising living standards, but available financing has not kept pace with needs.