Search the SPREP Catalogue

Tuvalu's waste management practices primarily rely on burying, burning, dumping, and landfilling. There is limited access to proper waste collection and disposal facilities, leading to environmental degradation and health hazards. Waste recovery is primarily carried out by the Solid Waste Agency of Tuvalu (DSW). Bulky waste, e-waste, green waste, used oils, and other materials are collected and stored at Tuvalu’s transfer station.

A monthly e-bulletin of activities and assistance from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme to its member countries.

As a Party, Tuvalu is obliged to enact national regulations to bring the conventions into the national regulatory framework. It is these national laws and regulations that then provide the implementing mechanisms to manage asbestos and ensure compliance with the conventions

Recognising Tuvalu has insufficient space to continually rely on waste disposal and stockpiling, the Tuvalu department of waste management (DWM) has recently implemented several initiatives to improve solid and hazardous waste management and reduce risks to their people and environment. Many of these initiatives have focused on the capital island, Funafuti - home to 50% of the population. The DWM now seeks to extend waste management initiatives to Tuvalu’s eight Outer Islands.

Tuvalu has had dedicated waste-related legislation in place since 2009. It appears that a dedicated Waste Management Act was enacted in 2017 but this legislation is not available online. An analysis of the national waste situation has been undertaken in the Integrated Waste Policy and Action Plan 2017-2026 with articulation of key strategic goals, actions, and targets. The intention of the policy’s integrated approach is for a ‘national or coordinated approach, focusing on the work across all relevant sectors and complementing current programs and activities in the waste sector’.

Tuvalu is a small atoll nation located in the Polynesia region in the Central Pacific. The nine islands of Tuvalu cover a land area of 26km2 making it the fourth smallest nation in the world. Its exclusive economic zone covers an oceanic area of approximately 900,000km2. The capital of Tuvalu is Funafuti, home to 60% of the 10,507 population.

Tuvalu has had dedicated waste related legislation in place since 2009. It appears that a dedicated Waste Management Act was enacted in 2017 but this legislation is not available online.

The Tuvalu Integrated Waste Policy and Action Plan 2016-2026 was endorsed by the Government in 2016 as the main policy framework to guide the management of waste in Tuvalu.

Presentation by Tuvalu to the steering committee

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) retained Golder Associates New Caledonia Sarl (Golder) to perform contemporary used oil audits in Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu to establish volumes of lubricating, hydraulic and transmissions oils imported into each country and the volume of used oil produced, and stored or otherwise disposed of. The major sources of used oil are power generation and motor vehicles. Used oil contains high levels of heavy metals and some amounts of more toxic chemicals. Oil spilled on the ground contaminates the soil and leaches into the water system, polluting water courses, groundwater, lagoons and the ocean. This report presents the findings of a contemporary used oil audit in Tuvalu. In-country visits, interviews and data collection that support this report were conducted by Golder in July 2014