Steering Committee on National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) meets at TATTE Building, Sogi.

The meeting for the Steering Committee is part of the broad process for the development of the National waste Management Strategy together with plastic banning initiative. It is evident that Samoa and its neighboring Pacific Islands is undergoing a period of social and economic development. Consequently, these developments lead to the significant amount of wastes being generated. It is in this context, that a coherent waste management strategy must be formulated to ensure that Samoas environment and public health are not adversely affected by the ongoing economic developments.

The development of the NWMS is one of the Ministry mandates addressed under the Waste Management Act 2010. It is currently under drafting processes by the Division of Environment & Conservation (DEC) and assisted by the JPrism 2 Project. During the formulation processes, communities and stakeholders were given the opportunity to provide input on the development of the Strategy.

The Steering Committee functions as the board who will approve the final drafting of the NWMS. It also allows the committee to monitor the implementation of the NWMS as well as coordinating the technical working groups.

The objective of the meeting is to confirm all the processes in the development of the NWMS. It also provided a platform to discuss issues and problems in regarding waste management in Samoa. The meeting also provided insight on the current status of the Plastic Ban Initiative and also seeking support for planned activities. That is to; ban importation of single use plastics into Samoa, forming policies and regulations that would govern the use of plastics and also its reduction, consult with communities to ensure immediate support, as well as developing alternatives that would replace the uses of plastics by the public.