In the News: Managing waste in tourism industry
Communications and Outreach Specialist
March 21, 2025
Fixing the waste management problem within the tourism sector needs a collective approach, says permanent secretary for Local Government Sheema Sharma.
As a panelist at the Pacific Recycling Foundation roundtable discussions on Global Recycling Day in Nadi on Wednesday, Ms Sharma said from an industry point of view, one hotel alone could not make a difference.
“We obviously need a collective approach,” she said.
“We need the tourism stakeholders and agencies to work very closely with the Ministry of Tourism.”
Ms Sharma said the National Sustainable Tourism Framework featured the issue of waste management and how recycling could be embedded into a hotel operation.
Ms Sharma’s comments were in response to a concern about the tourism industry’s role in Fiji’s economy and also its contribution to waste generation.
She said a number of hotels in Nadi and other areas were looking at how they could recycle waste.
“And as Ms Lenora Qereqeretabua had mentioned, these hotels put dispensers and reusable bottles in rooms now.
“But it’s more than that, it’s the food waste. What should they do with that?
“And obviously there are certain things they cannot recycle and that should be the only thing going to any form of dump site.
“I think you will find a lot more smaller operations doing a lot more towards recycling and working closely with the Ministry of Tourism because they do have a framework that looks at sustainability.”
Ms Sharma said ministries of Tourism and Local Government were collaborating on the Na Vualiku project where West-based solutions could be applied in the Northern Division in terms of sustainable waste disposal.
“There are initiatives in place, and we just need to bring them together.”
News source: https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/managing-waste-in-tourism-industry/
