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This report covers the Vanuatu component of a project involving waste oil audits in Fiji and Vanuatu to establish volumes of hydraulic and lubricating oils imported annually into these countries and to confirm the volumes of waste oil produced, stored or otherwise disposed. The work was carried out by Contract Environmental Ltd under a contract to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), with funding provided by the French Development Agency. Most of the information required for the audit was obtained in a country visit to Vanuatu which took place from 22 to 26 October 2012 and was organised through the Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC). There are two major suppliers of lubricating and hydraulic oil in the country and a number of other minor suppliers. Based on Customs’ import data, the total imports of lubricating and hydraulic oil are around 750,000 L per year.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that can travel long distances through air and water and accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and other animals. These POPs do not degrade quickly over time, and consequently, potentially expose people to serious health issues including cancer, birth defects and immune system impairments. As a result of anthropogenic releases of POPs to the environment since the 1940s, POPs are now widely distributed over large regions, including the Pacific Islands. To address the global environmental threat of POPs, the Stockholm Convention on POPs was adopted in May 2001 and entered into force on 17th May 2004. The Stockholm Convention commits Parties to reducing, and where feasible, eliminating the production and environmental releases of POPs. Vanuatu became a Party to the Convention on 15th December 2005. For more information on the Stockholm Convention, please visit http://chm.pops.int/.

This Used Oil Management Plan aims at introducing and implementing a Used Oil Stewardship System in Vanuatu.

Presentation by Vanuatu to the steering committee

Following a request from the Vanuatu Government to provide support for waste clean-ups following Tropical Cyclone Harold which made landfall in Vanuatu in April 2020, the PacWastePlus Programme, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC), and other donor funded waste projects, implemented support activities to nine communities on the islands of Santo, Pentecost, Aore and Malo. The project was deployed in September 2020 following extensive consultation to confirm the specific support requirements. The project was managed by staff from PacWastePlus (Regional Officer based in Vanuatu), an extension officer for DEPC and support from the Luganville Municipal Council (LMC).

Vanuatu is an island group located in the Melanesia region in the South Pacific, comprising of 65 inhabited islands (83 in total) over six provinces, with a total land area of 12,189 km2 . Its exclusive economic zone covers an oceanic area of approximately 680,000 km2 .

Until the enactment of the Waste Management Act 2014 and Pollution Control Act 2013, there was no stand-alone legislation on waste management and pollution control in force in Vanuatu. Solid waste management was regulated by the Environment and Conservation Act and the Public Health Act. Water pollution and management was regulated by the Water Resources Management Act and the Public Health Act.

Marine litter negatively affects the environment, people and coastal economies around the world. In the Pacific region, the problem is even more severe given the reliance of countries on healthy ocean ecosystems and services.

Les déchets marins ont des effets néfastes sur l’environnement, les populations et les économies côtières du monde entier. Pour la région du Pacifique, le problème est d’autant plus grave que les pays dépendent de la santé des écosystèmes marins et de la pérennité des services écosystémiques.

Waste received at the main Bouffa landfill in Vanuatu is comprised of up to 35% beverage containers products (aluminium, PET, glass). Beverage containers are also commonly seen as litter and in informal stockpiles or burnt by communities in pits. Vanuatu has had limited success implementing long-term solutions for recovery of recyclable items, due to lack of financing, infrastructure, technical expertise, and formal waste collection services. The Vanuatu Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC) views a Sustainable Financing system (known as a Product Stewardship Scheme (PSS)) as a solution to enable the collection and management of recyclable items. The DEPC, with the support of Donors and a Working Group of interested parties, has been developing the PSS since 2017. The DEPC seek for PacWastePlus to support the completion of additional components of this pathway – with the goal of implementing the PSS.