Waste Recycling Environment Network - WREN

23/06/2026

Every day is World Oceans Day at Waste Recycling Environment Network - WREN . Our team spent last weekend collecting, removing and sorting more than 150kgs of rubbish from a beach site in Puapua, Savaii funded by the SWAP project.

The results are a massive eye-opener for our community. While we often hear about plastic bottles and food wrappers dominating beach pollution, this audit revealed a shifting tide: more than 75% of the total waste collected by weight was made up of textiles and fishing nets.

Out of all the debris audited by citizen scientists on the sand, clothing, towels, linens, textiles and fishing nets dominated.

🧵 Why are textiles taking over?
This isn’t just a local disposal issue—it is directly tied to the global surge in fast fashion and synthetic fabric production.

The Rise of Synthetics: Most modern clothing is no longer just cotton or wool. It's made from cheap, plastic-based synthetic fibers like polyester, nylon, and acrylic.

Built to Last (In a Bad Way): When these fabrics are discarded or lost at sea, they don't break down naturally. Instead, they behave exactly like plastic bottles—tangling in our coral reefs, washing up on our beautiful coastline, and slowly fragmenting into microfibers that choke our marine life.

Combined with abandoned fishing nets (ghost nets), these heavy textile materials pose a severe threat to Samoa’s marine ecosystems, coastal beauty, and local fisheries.

🇼🇸 What can we do?
This data proves that our fight against marine pollution has to expand beyond single-use plastics. We need to rethink our relationship with clothing and textiles:

Buy less, buy better: Choose natural fibers (like cotton, linen, or wool) over synthetics where possible.

Repurpose & Repair: Turn old clothes into rags, or donate items that still have life in them rather than throwing them away.

Keep Supporting Citizen Science: Huge fa'afetai to the volunteers and data collectors keeping our beaches clean and proving what’s actually out there through programs like Litter Intelligence.

Knowledge is power. Let’s protect our beautiful Savai'i. 💙🌴
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Samoa France in Samoa - La France aux Samoa Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme - SPREP

13/06/2026

Our Caribbean Regional Manager represented WREN at LATINOSAN, the leading regional forum on sanitation, waste, and hygiene in Latin Amercia and the Caribbean, held this year in the Dominican Republic.

During the forum, she presented on Waste Recycling Environment Network - WREN's IDB Lab-selected project under the Sargassum Innovation Quest, highlighting the SPICE process as a sustainable approach to waste management in Belize, with a particular focus on sargassum.

LATINOSAN brings together government leaders, development partners, utilities, academics, and civil society every three years to shape policy and advance solutions for safe water and sanitation across the region. Being part of that conversation reflects WREN's commitment to driving innovation and regional collaboration in sustainable waste management.

We look forward to building on these connections and continuing to advance meaningful solutions for our communities.

27/05/2026

Good data leads to good decision making. We are excited to be trained and ready to start undertaking monitoring and support the guardianship of Samoa's coastlines against pollution. Thanks France in Samoa - La France aux Samoa and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Samoa .

14/04/2026