About 13,000 kilograms of plastic waste have been trapped by 11 floating trashbooms operating around Fiji, underscoring the scale of pollution entering the country’s waterways, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lynda Tabuya said on Tuesday.
Tabuya revealed the figures while launching a new trashboom in Suva Harbour, explaining the devices act as floating barriers that capture rubbish carried by currents — much of it irresponsibly dumped into rivers and drains. “Tourists come to Fiji expecting a beautiful environment so we must protect our rivers and our marine resources,” she said at the ceremony, stressing the protection of marine life and the country’s natural beauty as key goals of the initiative.
Of the 11 booms currently in place, six have been funded by the Fijian Government and five are supported by private and international partners, Tabuya said. Corporate backers include Fiji Airways and Coca‑Cola, with additional technical and financial support from the Government of Japan and the United Nations Environment Programme. A boom recently installed in the Nakasi River last Friday has already recovered around 10 kilograms of waste, she added, naming plastic bottles and aluminium cans among the items collected.
The latest deployment and the cumulative 13,000kg figure come as authorities face mounting pressure to address waste-related flooding and clogged drainage—a problem highlighted in recent reports that blamed illegal dumping for exacerbating floods in the Central Division. Local councils and national agencies have repeatedly noted that blocked drains and waterways worsen flood impacts during heavy rains, making the trashbooms’ waste tallies a concrete measure of the material contributing to those blockages.
Tabuya used the Suva launch to outline a broader strategy beyond deploying barriers. The Government is reviewing litter laws with a view to increasing spot fines and plans to place litter enforcement officers on the ground to improve monitoring and compliance. Budget submissions will be made to secure further funding for additional trashboom installations, she said, but acknowledged the limits of infrastructure alone.
“Right now, there’s only 11, but we need 11,000 around the country to collect the rubbish,” Tabuya said, highlighting the vast gap between current capacity and what would be required for effective nationwide coverage. She reiterated that behaviour change is critical: “We need behavioural change from our people to value our environment and to put their litter in a bin.”
Environmental groups and waste management advocates have previously called for integrated approaches that combine collection infrastructure, community education and stricter enforcement. The Government’s move to pursue legal reforms and deploy enforcement officers signals an attempt to couple physical interventions like trashbooms with deterrence and public awareness measures to reduce the steady flow of litter into rivers and the sea.
The Suva Harbour launch marks the latest development in Fiji’s efforts to curb marine and freshwater pollution ahead of the peak tourist season, with ministers and partners emphasising that both international support and local behavioural shifts will be needed to turn the tide on the country’s worsening plastic problem.
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