Towards a Circular Logistics Partnership: Regional Trade, Waste, and Inter-Sectoral Cooperation

Trade in the Pacific connects economies and communities, but also relies on profitmaking transactions. An outcome of this is that waste and no-longer-wanted goods build up on island nations and if not properly managed are directly detrimental to water resources and communities, and indirectly to tourism-driven revenue, upon which many Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICT) depend. The logistics of distances exacerbates these issues. Careful analysis and leveraging slacks in the logistics systems helps not only improve economic efficiencies through recycling, but also reduce in situ waste streams. However, implementation of a circular logistics system requires strong partnerships between Governance, Science and Business working together. This chapter details a case study in the PICT to load empty shipping containers with refuse for recycling when they are relocated back to the Pacific Rim for reloading with more finished goods for import to PICT. Building on the above, a proposed project to manage the disposal of the increasing numbers of end-of-life vehicles, batteries, and other light grade metals in the Pacific will also be described. This is notwithstanding that the preferred method of avoiding disposal by abandonment is to legislate for Extended Producer Responsibility (through extended Advanced Disposal Fee (ADF) schemes) to engineer the issue away at source.