Policy Brief | Waste Management Challenges in U.S. Territories

This policy brief examines the urgent waste management challenges facing the United States’ inhabited territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Using the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) as a central case study, the brief explores how aging landfill infrastructure, federal compliance burdens, climate vulnerability, and chronic funding constraints have created growing environmental, fiscal, and public health risks across territorial waste systems.

The brief provides a concise, evidence-based framework for federal policymakers, territorial leaders, and infrastructure stakeholders seeking to modernize waste systems and strengthen long-term resilience. It highlights practical solutions such as biochar-producing kilns, waste-to-energy systems, and micro-scale recycling initiatives, while emphasizing the need for integrated planning, sustainable funding mechanisms, and federal-territorial coordination. Particular attention is given to scalable, island-appropriate strategies that reduce landfill pressure, improve environmental compliance, and build disaster-ready systems capable of supporting healthier and more resilient communities.