Palau News Letter Vol. 8] Start of Separate Discharge Activities in Communities

We would like to provide you with an update on the JICA Partnership Program "The Project to Promote Systematic Household Waste Segregation and Discharge in Babeldaob Island, the Republic of Palau" which is being implemented in Palau by ICETT.

Start of waste sorting (for recycling) and discharge activities in the communities
　Resource Stations ("Stations") have been established in the Ngatpang and Aimeliik States.
　The stations were built with reference to the Japanese stations, and were suitable for Palau. In January 2025, the Governors of each state announced the start of the sorting and discharge initiative, and stations were set up in each area one after another. After that the residents started to sort and discharge resources on a full-scale basis.
　The items to be sorted are mainly plastics, metals and glasses. A calendar was made and distributed to residents with collection dates. Each state government collects and transports once a week.
　For residents who used to mix all kinds of household waste into drums placed in each house and throw them away, this is the first time they have experienced an initiative to separate waste and dispose of it cleanly as a resource. The activity promotion team, including the Palau National Government's Waste Management Division, Bureau of Public Works, Department of Public Infrastructure and Industry ("BPW"), state government staff, and Friends of PNMS (a local NPO), are working to promote understanding by explaining the program to residents in these two states through meetings and home visits.

　Raising awareness among residents
　At the January 2025 meeting, the completed station was unveiled. ICETT participated in the meeting together with experts, practicing the sorting of actual resources. ICETT also invited local residents who have been practicing the sorting and emission activities to share their experiences.

Click here to view the sorting instructions (video) created by BPW.
https://youtu.be/Tr2fbb0RuFs

　A residential map is necessary for the home visits, which involves going door-to-door to households in the target area. In Palau, where there are no up-to-date maps, the activity promotion team walked around by themselves and organized the information and created a map.
　Home visits are made around 6:00 p.m., when as many residents as possible are at home. In Palau, door to door campaign can be a difficult task because there are many households with unleashed guard dogs and few streetlights and it becomes pitch-dark in the area. ICETT's activities also promote sorting and discharge activities at elementary schools in these two states (6 to 14 years old in Palau), and the families with children attending elementary schools were very enthusiastic about the sorting and discharge activities.

　Home Visits in the Ngatpang and Aimeliik States

　

　In order to let more people in Palau know about this activity, we have created posters. The posters are displayed in public facilities and supermarkets.

　The amount of recyclables collected in the two states shows how much the amount of waste sent to landfills has been reduced. We will continue to work together with the people of Palau to raise awareness in the local community in conjunction with school initiatives so that residents will quickly develop the habit of taking the initiative!

Essay on Palau

　In our activities in Palau, we sometimes serve Japanese sweets and confections to Palauans so that they can also taste delicious Japanese food.
　When we served cold "Fruche (TM)" (like a yogurt dessert mixed with milk) at an evening residents' meeting it was very well received by them. On another occasion, Palauan residents served us a dish called "AHO," which is made of coconut milk and white beans. It tasted sweet and mild, just like Oshiruko in Japan.

　Please look forward to the next issue of Palau News Letter!