From L-R: Ms Sewnet Mekonnen (MSF), Mr Aritu Lotia, Environmental Health Unit (MHMS), Mr Mansoor Hussain (BFS), Mr Mwakata Bureteiti, Pharmacy Department (MHMS), Dr Alfred (MHMS), Caroline De Cramer (MSF), Sebastian Frisch (BFS)
Healthcare waste management in island nations is a genuinely complex challenge. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has identified that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) across the Pacific face similar constraints: Limited land availability, few disposal options, and waste that, once it arises, needs processing, sometimes in complex infrastructure.
Kiribati illustrates this clearly. The country’s total land area is just over 800 square kilometres, dispersed across 3.5 million square kilometres of the central Pacific. The incinerator at Tungaru Central Hospital in Tarawa is the primary treatment point for hazardous medical waste. Bringing its pollution control technology to full operational standard and building the practices around it for the long term is the focus of a new cross-sector project.
Together with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Government of Kiribati, through the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development, BFS is delivering a healthcare waste management project at TCH. The work covers three phases: the compliant export of legacy hazardous waste under the Basel Convention, infrastructure and operational improvements at the hospital, and the expansion of the existing Extended Producer Responsibility system to include medical waste as a sustainable financing mechanism.
The full project announcement, co-issued by MSF and BFS, is available here.
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For more information or to organise an interview please contact:
Diana Worman on +61 447 348 556 diana.worman@sydney.msf.org AND
Yash Das Sharma on +49-17668648384 yd.sharma@bfgroup.org
Project note:
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in partnership with international waste management experts Black Forest Solutions (BFS), and the Government of Kiribati, are operating a healthcare waste management project in Kiribati to strengthen safe, sustainable waste practices and protect public health and the environment.
Additionally, MSF operates a climate-sensitive health care project in Kiribati in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, addressing non-communicable diseases, particularly in women and children, as well as improving long-term access to safe water to support public health needs.
About BFS:
BlackForest Solutions (BFS) is an international environmental management firm founded in 2016, part of the RainbowForest Solutions Group. With more than 275 projects delivered across 100 countries, BFS specialises in hazardous waste advisory, the compliant cross-border movement of hazardous materials under the Basel Convention and the design of long-term waste management systems for governments, health systems, and industry.
In Kiribati, BFS is responsible for the safe export of legacy medical waste, improvements to the TCH incinerator infrastructure, staff training, and the design of a sustainable financing model for healthcare waste management. BFS operates under the supervision of MSF and in close coordination with the Government of Kiribati.