SPTO Plastic Tourism Waste Action Initiative set to benefit 3 more Small Island States

Planning is underway for the implementation of the SPTO Pacific Tourism Waste Action Initiative (PTWAI) in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The initiative entails a practical skills development training on PET plastics repurposing, targeting community level participants.

The workshops will be facilitated by the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) and Fijian Creative Consultant, Warwick Marlow, in close consultation with the National Tourism Organisations of the three countries.

The PTWAI builds on the success of the first virtual training workshop held in Kiribati in December 2020, which was recognized as the Best Creative Tourism Strategy at the 2020 Creative Tourism Awards (read more here).
The initiative provides an opportunity for the tourism sector to participate in waste reduction initiatives through the promotion of circular economies and community engagement in green income generation activities, visible through sustainable tourism development.

A total of 75 participants are set to benefit from the trainings as they acquire new skills in creating jewelry and artefacts out of PET plastic bottles.

The trainings will be delivered in RMI in March, followed by Nauru and FSM in April. A hybrid approach will be used; whereby participants physically assemble in-country to receive the training which will be delivered virtually through a 3-day interactive programme.
PTWAI is part of a joint CROP programme on capacity building for small island states, between Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and SPTO.

For more information on this, please email sustainable@spto.org