“J-PRISM3” holds the 2nd Steering Committee (SC) meeting

On 22 August 2025, “Japanese Technical Cooperation Project for Promotion of Regional Initiative on Solid Waste Management in Pacific Island Countries Phase 3” (J-PRISM3) held its second Steering Committee (SC) meeting in Pohnpei, the Federate States of Micronesia (FSM), with a hybrid (on site and online) format.

Read more on J-PRISM3: https://www.sprep.org/j-prism-iii

J-PRISM aims to improve solid waste management (SWM) in 9 Pacific Island Countries. In the past, this project supported to establish SWM plans and improve waste collection and final disposable sites, and Phase 3, which started July 2023, has been supporting to these countries including PNG to expand these outputs and promote recycling systems.

The SC meeting was chaired by Ms. Cynthia Ehmes, Assistant Secretary, Division of Environment, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management (DECEM), the FSM.

More than 100 people attended the meeting either on site or virtually. Attendees include counterparts from 9 countries (FSM, Fiji, Palau, PNG, RMI, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu), staff of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), JICA Headquarters and JICA offices, JICA volunteers, and J-PRISM3 Expert Team.

The country representatives presented their progress and outlined the priority activities planned ahead of the next SC meeting.

One of the key achievements highlighted during the meeting was the successful implementation of the 3R+Return initiative, which involved a collaborative pilot project to ship PET bottles from Kosrae to Taiwan for recycling. This marks a significant step forward, not only for the FSM but also for other countries in the region facing similar challenges in exporting recyclables.