Plastic pollution is having a colossal impact on our oceanic ecosystems. Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in particular, experience a deluge of plastic waste either washing up on their beaches or from plastic they generate themselves. These vulnerable economies, primarily dependent on tourism and fishing, can be devastated by pollution. Since 2019, Searious Business has been working with the IUCN on their "Close the Plastic Tap" Programme to mitigate plastic pollution on six Caribbean and Pacific islands. Several options and methodologies were shown to work well – but a holistic approach is needed – hence this Blueprint to guide the way.

This Blueprint guides you on a journey to a Plastic Waste Free Island, detailing how to:

• Collect baseline data about waste generation
• Develop a financing and action plan
• Increase policy effectiveness for waste reduction
• Unlock sector-level business opportunities
• Create new value chains and job opportunities
• Attract and inform investment, e.g., reuse and recycling

"The Blueprint gives a solid step-by-step overview of how to avoid plastic pollution. Having a duplicable model greatly supports remote areas all over the world." - Willemijn Peeters, CEO & Founder, Searious Business

Next steps

It's impossible to eliminate all plastic from our lives. It is an incredibly versatile material, but the wasteful way we use and dispose of it needs re-evaluating. We must work to move away from a linear model where waste is bound for landfill or our environment. The future must be circular. The Blueprint is available for free download here. If you have questions about its content or need support with on-the-ground implementation, please get in contact. 

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