Mr. Paula Katirewa, PWFI Project coordinator conducted a round table discussion in the Itaukei language and shared with the women the very significant role that informal waste sector workers play in the circular economy paradigm of the plastics value chain. In countries characterized by not-so-robust waste management systems, the informal sector plays a critical role in the recycling value chain, especially with regard to plastic waste by collecting plastic waste that would otherwise be leaked into the environment. As part of the roundtable discussions the participants were given questionnaires relating to gender and inclusion in the workforce; gender roles, responsibilities and barriers for equal participation along the value chain and, gender analysis of the national policy/regulations and institutional frameworks and infrastructure. The top recommendations from the women through these questionnaires based on their current needs were;

1. Make available personal protective equipment (PPE) including safety boots, hand gloves, hats, raincoats and first aid kits to support their work.
2. Make available transportation to transport recyclable PET bottles to the Coca cola factory
3. Increase the number of items that can be recycled to include cans, copper, aluminum etc.

Mr. Katirewa also shared statistics from studies indicating that the informal waste sector is responsible for the collection of as much as 20% of recyclables that are collected in total and sometimes contribute as high as 80% in some parts of the world. Mr. Katirewa also mentioned that informal waste workers are at the bottom of the recycling hierarchy which makes them the most vulnerable within this chain and being a woman in this sector further exacerbates this vulnerability, however, women bring additional value to the plastics value chain as they have the capacity to influence plastics waste management at the domestic and family level. Empowering women will also strengthen their role in educating the community and spearheading recycling and waste management initiatives. 

Fiji’s Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Dr. Mahendra Reddy officiated the closing of the workshop where the women were accorded a graduation ceremony to acknowledge their participation.

Long-time waste picker Asinate Lewabeka conveyed thanks on behalf of the participants in a very moving speech saying “Au rawa ni tukuna ena mataka vinaka nikua ni vaka keimami vakayacora tu na cakacaka qo vaka keimami beci tu …io ni au qai mai raica na mataka vinaka nikau ni na ka saraga ya keimami mai tabaki tu vaka e dua na lesilesi levu” (I can say today that the work that we do is looked down upon but it is because of our work we have received much praise).

Also present as guests were IUCN Oceania Regional Director Mr. Mason Smith and FWCC Shelter Manager and Community Educator Ilisapeci Veibuli who facilitated the empowerment training. Dr. Reddy highlighted the need to move away from the term ‘Waste pickers’ for a group of people that are doing invaluable work that benefitted the country as a whole and recommended a more apt term ‘environmental guardians’. Mr. Amitesh Deo of WRFL also delivered his closing remarks and called on media organsiations, donor agencies and civil society organsiations to stop regarding informal waste pickers as “disempowered people” but to instead acknowledge and address their need for support structures. Mr. Deo also conveyed his thanks to IUCN for their continuous support to WRFL’s efforts towards better waste management.

IUCN through the PWFI project supports this initiative as it aligns with the objective of ensuring that solutions developed through the PWFI project to reduce plastic pollution advance women’s empowerment and gender equality. These solutions include recycling plastics such as PET, HDPE and LDPE plastics which have been identified through the PWFI project as the more common plastic types leaked into the environment here in the Oceania region. There is also the need for more work in the region in terms of establishing how gender roles determine the way stakeholders work with plastics; to better understand the dynamics of the workforce involved in plastics and plastic waste sectors along the value chain and the barriers for equal participation along the plastics value chain, as well as analysing national policy/regulations and institutional frameworks. The willingness of the 16 women to participate in this exercise is a vital first step towards filling the gap in our understanding of gender roles, responsibilities and barriers within the vision of a circular economy for plastics in Fiji and in the region.  This empowerment workshop has enhanced their skills that would directly and positively impact relationships with key actors in the plastics value chain, in collection of recyclables, recycling and their role in the transition to a circular economy for plastics.

Ultimately the outcomes from the PWFI project will be incorporated into an approach that uses the learnings from the project countries to develop a blueprint that essentially is a framework that can be used and promoted based on the unique conditions of the PWFI project countries, and can be used to guide other countries in a similar context particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) address the complex and cross-cutting issue of plastic waste management.

Implemented in the Pacific in Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu, the PWFI project is initiated by the IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature with funding from the Government of Norway to support the work on addressing the problem of plastic waste leakage from island states.

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^{By Varea Romanu, Climate Change Programme Assistant}