Creating effective waste management behavioural interventions: are municipal councils in small island developing states on track?

Municipal councils are the principal agents that manage solid waste and advocate sustainable practices in many countries. This is the case for many small island developing states in the Pacific, which experience high pollution rates and low rates of community-based recycling. The behavioural aspects of sustainable solid waste management are less studied and documented in the Pacific region compared to investigations about the socio-economic, technical and infrastructural factors. More rigorous reviews of council-led programs are needed to provide insights into best practices and the pitfalls to avoid for prospective behavioural programs. This study systematically reviews waste management interventions implemented by five municipal councils in Fiji from 2000 to 2019. The interventions span across three strategic areas – schools, homes and farmer’s markets. This article assesses these interventions using the social marketing benchmark criteria, which are useful for evaluating behavioural interventions. Our findings indicate that local authorities are reliant on traditional communication channels, rather than interactive platforms, to communicate with end-users. Another important finding is that interventions lack user-centric design to elicit user engagement. Moreover, this article discusses alternative pathways to recycling and composting for communities and the type of behavioural strategies needed at schools to enhance pro-environmental attitude and behaviour.