Rocket Burn Barrel - Plastic Disposal in Fiji

The Problem

In May of 2023 my wife and I were delivering Rotary Club organized medical supplies to the remote island of Rabi. We asked, “What else could we do to help?” and there answer was help them dispose of medical and plastic waste.

Waste disposal, particularly plastic waste, is a major problem for remote villages and islands in Fiji. There is no recycling possible in these remote areas, so all garbage is either thrown into a casual landfill, burned in an open fire, left at the side of the road, or thrown into the sea. 

The almost accidental landfills around villages are not managed, so they attract vermin plus the toxins leach into the soil and often the water supply. The roadsides are littered with discarded chip and snack bags, and in the ocean plastic bottles and used diapers roll in and out on the waves or clog the reefs. 

Open burning of the waste releases toxic fumes and ash that have helped give Fiji the world’s second highest rate of asthma death and other respiratory issues in the world. This in a country bathed continuously with wonderful, clean Pacific trade winds and with virtually no industrial or automotive air pollution. Children regularly tell us how they tend the daily garbage burns in their village. 

Research shows that plastic and many other waste products can be safely and effectively destroyed by high temperature incinerators, but traditional incinerators are very expensive and difficult to deploy to remote locales. The key is achieving a temperature above 500 degrees centigrade which is required for the destruction of the most commonly used plastics. Open fires rarely get hotter than 300 degrees.

A Solution

We have found a way to build simple DIY incinerators using two barrels, a few screws and bolts, and some readily available tools to build an incinerator that burns at over 700C. We call it the “Rocket Burn Barrel”. 

One 44 gallon barrel is reduced in size so it will fit comfortably inside the other. Many holes are strategically drilled and flaps created to guide the air in and focus it to achieve and very hot, double burn which creates very high temperatures. The burn is virtually smoke free, toxic gas free, and leaves only a small handful of ash. 

The prototype of this cost F$120 and took a very inexperienced worker (me) about 8 hours to build. The components and tools are:

- 2 x 44 gallon drums or similar

- 12 – 15 self-tapping screws

- 3 x 5cm stainless steel bolts

- Angle grinder with steel cutting discs

- Power drill

That’s it! In a typical burn, and we now use it about every other week with all our neighbors, we will burn 4 – 6 large trash bags of mostly plastic rubbish, including nappies/diapers. It doesn’t destroy tins or glass. The burn takes about 20-30 minutes to complete and leaves virtually no ash or waste. Our prototype is still going strong after 8 months of use. I accidentally put a glass bottle in one time and it partially melted, which takes a temperature of nearly 1,200C!

Best of all, there is no smell of burning plastic!

Program Goals

Our initial goal is to see these placed in every medical/health clinic in the district of Cakaudrove, Fiji, all of which are in remote villages. We have received strong support from the Senior District Medical Officer for this program. Our Rotary Club’s history of strong connections with the nurses there will help this become the disposal method of choice for their communities. We plan to put these there at no cost to the clinics. 

Next, would be to place these in as many remote villages as we can. The villages are actually really good at cleaning their areas and this will then let them destroy the collected rubbish more effectively. We will ask a nominal fee from them to cover transport and training.

Finally, we will offer them to resorts/hotels, businesses and individuals. For this group we would plan on a fee to cover costs and subsidize the other installations. 

We have made the plans and instructions, including a video, of how to build a barrel available for all to see and use on our Rotary Club website at: https://rotarysavusavu.org/rocket-burn-barrel-info

Progress To-Date

We have built and installed 18 barrels to date (04JUL24) in remote health centers, businesses, and individual homes. There are currently “orders” for an additional 7 barrels.

We have trained and are using a couple local young men to build the Rocket Burn Barrels and they do a great job (way better than I did building the prototype). The expectation/hope is that this role grows and provides a steady income for them.

Summary

We believe we have found a safe, effective and inexpensive way to dispose of plastic and other toxic waste in Fiji’s villages and the installations have looked really promising. Challenges exist, but we are hopeful that they will be overcome. This is not a 100% solution to the problem of plastic waste and related pollution, but we believe it can be a significant step in reducing the current pollution rates and begin to clean up existing waste. If we are successful, we estimate that each Rocket Burn Barrel could destroy up to 10,000 plastic bottles per year.