Rubbish piled up after floods in a settlement in Nadi, Fiji Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Tourists to the Pacific are one of the main drivers of the region's rubbish problems, creating enormous strain on already poor waste management systems.
New research published in a report for the UN's environment programme says a tourist in small island developing states produces about 7kg of waste a day, compared to about 2.5kg for a local.
In the Pacific, with its poorly designed landfills and lack of recycling programmes, about 80 percent of waste ends up in the oceans.
The report's author, Dr Jeff Seadon from Auckland's AUT University, told Jamie Tahana what can be done to reduce the strain.
