Revenue stacking and the governance premium: techno-economic feasibility of centralised anaerobic digestion for urban organic waste in a Pacific small island developing state
Description
Primary data from a pre-feasibility assessment of a centralised anaerobic digestion facility for Greater Suva, Fiji, covering Suva City, Nasinu, Lami and Nausori. The study tests whether appraising waste-to-energy in a small island developing state as an energy project, against an electricity tariff, mis-ranks a facility whose principal value is waste diversion and avoided landfill methane. Three instruments were used between April and November 2025. A structured survey of organic waste producers returned 40 responses from 59 establishments across hospitality, food service, food processing and wholesale food retail. A structured survey of waste management stakeholders returned five of six regulatory and operational organisations. Site observation checklists were completed at 26 producer sites. The frame came from municipal business licence listings for the four Greater Suva councils, so the sample is purposive rather than random. A separate stall census at eleven municipal markets recorded 4,983 stalls. The files record waste types, storage and collection, segregation practice, stated quantities, disposal routes, compliance and enforcement experience, awareness of anaerobic digestion and willingness to participate, alongside what was observed on site. The principal finding is an absence. No respondent produced a weighed record of organic waste, and quantities were given as ranges inferred from bin size or collection volume, which is why the associated study relies on triangulated secondary estimation. Segregation was absent or partial at most premises, willingness to participate was high but conditional on cost and reliable collection, and every regulator identified enforcement capacity rather than regulatory content as the binding constraint. Stated quantities should be read as ordinal bands and not as measurements. The data support proportions within the covered sectors in Greater Suva and suit comparative work on waste governance and measurement capacity in Pacific small island developing states. Ethics clearance 2025/CAES_HREC/6658, University of South Africa. Participation was voluntary and informed, and identifiers are removed.