Source Reduction + Waste Management + Community Empowerment + Coastal Cleanups + Social Enterprise Models = Closed Loop Economies Protecting the Ocean!
Our Solomon’s Waste to Wealth program represents the first replication of our highly successful program in India. Through a coastal communities, teaching coastal communities model, we’re addressing waste at source and when in circulation in the highly biodiverse Coral Triangle, enhancing ecosystem health, and creating new livelihoods for marginalised communities within one of the world’s most climate vulnerable regions.
Waste Collection Service (WCS)
Since it’s inception in 2021, the Waste Collection Service (WCS) in the Solomon Islands has been actively collecting 5 waste streams weekly across communities in the Western Province.
Waste is then transported to our recycling facility on Gizo Island, where we sort into categories, upcycling hard and soft plastics into new, saleable products through our plastic granulator and press machines; selling aluminium to the recycling sector, and properly recycling paper and cardboard through regional recycling coops.
To date, our WCS in the Solomon Islands has:
Grown to service 80 households and businesses (>1,000 people) per week.
Removed over 2 tonnes of household and business waste from polluting local coastal areas and the ocean (including almost 500kg of hard and soft plastic items!).
Opened a Waste Recovery Centre to transport, store, and manage the collected waste.
Purchased a plastic presser and mould machine to turn the collected waste into new, marketable products, furthering local livelihood opportunities.
Facilitated over 15 community beach and underwater dive clean-ups, collecting over 5 tonnes of waste from local marine ecosystems and re-establishing local dive sites that were literally covered in waste!
Led multiple community workshops and media programs to train and engage the community on the negative impacts that waste have on the marine environment and community health, informing them on how to adequately manage their waste properly.
Reduced open burning rates of toxic plastic and polystyrene waste, as well as diverted over 2 tonnes of waste from the (at-capacity) local landfill.
Employed 9 women and 6 youth to implement and coordinate the project.
Leave No Trace (LNT)
Our Leave No Trace Campaign in the Solomon Islands is helping transition the Gizo Market (the main trading and shopping hub on Gizo Island) to become 100% plastic-free by late 2024, in collaboration with our partners at the Western Provincial Government, Gizo Town Council, and Plastic Wise Gizo.
To date, Leave No Trace has:
Worked with 15 vendors and businesses to transition to alternative products such as paper straws and bags, as well as Areca leaf bowls, cutlery, and takeaway containers.
- Stopped >50,000 single-use plastic and polystyrene items from entering supply chains and subsequently ending being burned or dumped in the ocean every year.
Developed a range of engagement and outreach programs through educational signage, local radio, community and business workshops, as well as at the market itself, hosting regular stalls that survey the community, and showcase the alternative products available.
Explored opportunities for locally manufactured products through our target communities, creating more opportunities for meaningful employment.
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