As Fiji welcomes 2026, the Pacific Recycling Foundation (PRF) is reflecting on a year of both progress and challenges for grassroots recycling, locally, regionally and globally.
PRF says while 2025 delivered key milestones, including sector engagement, policy discussions, and national and international recognition for recycling leadership, it also exposed systemic issues that continue to marginalise grassroots recyclers.
PRF Founder Amitesh Deo says the year highlighted a growing imbalance in how recycling efforts are recognised and supported.
Deo says it was a good year but it was also a difficult one and they are seeing clean-up campaigns being glorified, while the everyday work of grassroots recyclers, who keep recyclables out of landfills and dumpsites all year round is overlooked.
The Foundation has raised concerns about the increasing exclusion of grassroots organisations from decision-making in the recycling space, particularly when those decisions directly affect the livelihoods of informal and community-based recyclers.
He says what has been most concerning is seeing recycling programs being taken over by entities whose primary businesses lie elsewhere, slowly diverting recyclable materials away from grassroots recyclers.
The Founder says these volumes are not abstract numbers.
PRF warns that such practices are undermining structures that grassroots recyclers have spent years building, often with limited recognition or support.
Deo further says their position is simple, if we are not helping to build, then we should not be destroying the structures built by grassroots recyclers.
In 2025, PRF advanced engagement through platforms such as the VAKA Forums, working more closely with municipal councils and the tourism sector, and promoting shared responsibility and ethical recycling practices.
However, the organisation also described the year as one marked by “repression and regression”.
Deo says they were honoured to receive the Best Sustainability Initiative Award at the Prime Minister’s International Business Awards for the second time.
He says this recognition means a great deal, but it does not erase the daily realities faced by grassroots recyclers on the ground.
Looking ahead to 2026, PRF says it is entering a period of re-strategising, reflecting both local challenges and a wider global trend affecting grassroots organisations.
