Fiji: Building resilience through waste innovation

ORGANISATION
Pacific Recycling Foundation

LOCATION
Fiji

Building resilience through waste innovation: the I-Recycle Hub

At Pacific Recycling Foundation (PRF), resilience is built not only through emergency response but through everyday systems that protect communities before disaster strikes. Waste management is one such system. In Fiji, where climate vulnerability is high and infrastructure is often strained, unmanaged waste contributes directly to disaster risk: blocked drains, polluted waterways, and increased exposure to flooding and disease outbreaks.

The I-Recycle Hub is PRF’s flagship initiative designed to address this challenge head-on. Developed in partnership with its entrepreneurial arm, Waste Recyclers Fiji Ltd (WRFL), the Hub is more than a bin: it is a behaviour change tool, a data collection point, and a symbol of shared responsibility.

Implementation and reach

The I-Recycle Hub has been rolled out across schools, corporate workplaces, informal settlements, and government institutions. This wide reach reflects PRF’s commitment to inclusive, scalable solutions that meet communities where they are.

Linking waste management to disaster risk reduction

The Hub directly contributes to disaster risk reduction by reducing waste sent to landfill, improving community awareness, and preventing environmental hazards. In flood-prone urban areas, increased recycling participation helps reduce the volume of waste clogging drains and waterways. In informal settlements, it provides a structured system where none previously existed, giving residents a way to manage waste safely and sustainably.

The bins are designed to withstand Fiji’s tropical climate and serve as long-term infrastructure for resilience. They also support PRF’s broader goals of data-driven advocacy, community empowerment, and public-private collaboration.

Financing resilience, not disasters

The I-Recycle Hub is a low-cost, high-impact investment. Through strategic placement and community ownership, it has:

• Diverted substantial volumes of plastics, metals, paper, and glass from landfills
• Reduced the likelihood of waste-related flooding and contamination
• Created safer, more dignified working conditions for Collection Pillars of Recycling (CPRs), formerly informal waste pickers
• Enabled pathways to green jobs, upcycling, and economic empowerment, especially for women and LGBTQI+ community members
• These outcomes demonstrate that financing waste infrastructure is not only an environmental investment but also a resilience strategy.

Impact on lives

Across implementation sites, communities report cleaner surroundings, stronger awareness, and a growing sense of ownership. In schools, students have become recycling advocates. In workplaces, staff are engaging with sustainability in new ways. For CPRs, the program has opened doors to formal employment, training, and visibility within the circular economy.

The Hub has also catalysed broader systemic change. Through PRF’s Look Beyond Movement, the model is now being adapted for outer island communities, ensuring equitable access to sustainability solutions regardless of geography or social status.

A blueprint for regional resilience

The I-Recycle Hub is not just a bin; it is a blueprint. It shows how community-driven infrastructure can reduce disaster risk, empower marginalised groups, and build long-term resilience. It is a model that can be replicated across the Pacific and beyond.

As we mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction under the theme “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters”, PRF stands ready to continue building systems that protect both people and planet.

This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, GNDR calls for governments, donors, the private sector and financial institutions to prioritise funding for resilience, not just funding for disasters when they strike.

All photos: Pacific Recycling Foundation