The Pacific Recyclers Alliance says while it welcomes the growing focus on recycling, environmental policy and investment, grassroots recyclers are still being left out of some discussions that directly affect their work and livelihoods.
Alliance President Amitesh Deo says some organisations have been collecting, sorting and processing recyclable materials for more than 30 years, often with limited formal support.
He says their experience comes from working directly with communities and understanding the realities of recycling in Pacific Island countries, and this knowledge must be considered when shaping future policies and investments.
Deo says recycling should also not focus only on commercially valuable materials, as grassroots organisations deal with low-value and difficult-to-recover materials that still need to be responsibly processed.
The Alliance President says between 2017 and 2026, the Pacific Recycling Foundation, through Waste Recyclers Fiji Limited, recovered 31,874 tonnes of recyclable materials across several waste streams.
PRA Executive Board Member representing Samoa, Marina Keil, says new initiatives and investments should strengthen existing grassroots recycling systems rather than create parallel structures that could weaken them.
The Alliance is calling on governments, development partners, the private sector, academia and civil society to ensure grassroots recyclers are meaningfully involved in designing policies, programmes, investment models and recycling systems.
PRA represents grassroots recycling organisations from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Nauru.
