Connecting the world and beyond

Creating a Circular Economy for Electronics in the Pacific

Background

The Pacific Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, are classified into three major regions: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2024, these islands collectively generated 22,230 tonnes of e-waste in 2022. Countries in the Pacific face unique challenges in managing e-waste due to limited land availability for safe disposal and inadequate recycling infrastructure, leading to stockpiles of waste that cannot be safely processed.

E-waste management in the Pacific region primarily relies on a mix of informal and limited formal practices.
There are currently no established, systematic e-waste collection programs in the region. Instead, recovered e-waste is typically brought in voluntarily by individuals, businesses, and institutions or salvaged by waste pickers at disposal sites, where valuable components are extracted and sold to recyclers often overseas.

Objectives

Through the identification, engagement, coordination and capacity building of stakeholders, the project’s objective will be to establish a strong foundation for effective e-waste management in the Pacific tailored to the region’s unique geography and environmental challenges.

Timeline

The project is planned to be executed between June 2026 and June 2029.

Beneficiary Countries

Components

Expected results

Global and regional stakeholders are aware of the ongoing initiatives on e-waste and understand the different e-waste needs of each country in the Pacific while implementing their respective initiatives in a coordinated manner.
Pacific Island communities are engaged in the discussion around e-waste management, in particular about participating in formal collection and being aware about its social, environmental and economic impacts.
The governments of Fiji and PNG have a clear plan in place to improve the way e-waste management is regulated nationally through strong policy principles while having better tools and knowledge in place to implement policy.

project sustainability

Three outputs of the project’s implementations will comprehensively incorporate the circular economy principles.
Outputs resulting from the project’s implementation will be at the beneficiary countries’ disposal for future related activities. To ensure that the deliverables of the project are implemented by the beneficiary countries following the closure of the project, national working groups on e-waste management will be formed during the project implementation.
It is anticipated that SPREP, central to regional environmental matters in the Pacific region will furthermore use the outputs of the project in their future activities beyond the completion of this project.

RESOURCES

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

This project is supported by the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts.

CONTACT

Project Manager
Ms. Akanksha Sharma
Programme Officer

Regional Contact
Ms. Harshita Mehta
Circular Economy Lead for Asia and the Pacific

Contact: itu-ro-asiapacific@itu.int

CREATING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR ELECTRONICS PROGRAMME

ITU's Development Bureau has been given the mandate to tackle the growing quantities of e-waste, which it implements through its Creating a circular economy for electronics programme. The programme supports regulators and the electronics sector towards a circular economy transition, through legally transparent, sustainably financed and digitally enabled e-waste management systems.