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© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    All ThemesCircular EconomyClimate ActionConnectivity & DigitizationCulture & CommunityEnergy & TransportGreen Finance & EconomyOcean & BiodiversityPolicy & GovernanceTourism & Remote WorkWater & Food
    Showing 9 of 105 news items in Circular Economy
    How Solomon Islands’ water plant became an aid failure
    Circular EconomyJanuary 15, 2025

    How Solomon Islands’ water plant became an aid failure

    As its bid for the Kongulai project was being evaluated, Rean/PCS was facing scrutiny for non-performance on four separate ADB-funded water treatment systems in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, according to court records from the joint venture’s unsuccessful appeal of the blacklisting. A January 2022 “show cause” letter from the state-owned Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Company, included in the court records, noted that each of these projects was more than four years behind schedule and warned that Rean/PCS was at risk of being blacklisted by the state. The company ultimately was blacklisted for two years in June 2022 — just a month after it was awarded the Solomon Islands tender. The “show cause” letter was copied to ADB staff members, meaning that at least some staff had access to the material while the Solomon Islands bid was being evaluated. ADB declined to answer specific questions about the letter. By August 2022, just three months into the project, Kongulai was already running dangerously behind schedule, according to minutes of meetings between Solomon Water and Rean/PCS. That month, a Solomon Water manager told the board that Rean/PCS had been notified of three breaches of contract for failing to complete key tasks, including securing the insurance needed to build permanent structures, a copy of the report obtained by OCCRP shows. The board was told that it would be “impossible” for the contractor to meet its June 2023 deadline.

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    Thursday Island community sparking a ride revolution
    Circular EconomyJanuary 8, 2025

    Thursday Island community sparking a ride revolution

    Excerpt and Photo from abc.net.au Cost of living pain is being felt nowhere more keenly than on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, off the tip of north Queensland where fuel can be anywhere up to three dollars a litre. A grassroots community group on the Island is hoping to ease that burden by spearheading a bicycling revolution and raising funds to buy 100 bikes for the remote island community

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    Homes built with clay, grass, plastic and glass: How a Caribbean island is shying away from concrete
    Circular EconomyJanuary 8, 2025

    Homes built with clay, grass, plastic and glass: How a Caribbean island is shying away from concrete

    Photo Credit: Damar Ali. Retrieved from bbc.com On the island of Trinidad, houses are being built using upcycled materials to make them more climate resilient. When Erle Rahaman-Noronha decided to try his hand at farming in 1997, the land he settled on in Freeport, like much of Trinidad’s farmland, had been focused on monoculture – a remnant of the colonial plantations that scarred the region’s history. “There was just a citrus tree every 20ft (6m) – none of these big trees were here,” he says, gesturing around him. Now the 30 acres (12 hectares) more closely resembles a forest, dotted with structures built out of repurposed materials. Rahaman-Noronha hasn’t just reforested his land; he is passionate about ensuring the buildings on his farm are sustainable too. As you enter the farm a concrete house greets you – one of the older buildings on the land. But every other structure has touches of the earth. Clay, harvested from the land nearby; timber from the trees further back on the farm; repurposed glass bottles of all colours that glitter as the light hits them; rounded formations that only hint at the old, upcycled tires buried underneath to provide structure; and textured walls containing patchworks of dried grasses. The farmer is embracing the old Trinidadian ways of building, when residents would use what was available to them, rather than [mass importing materials](https://tradingeconomics.com/trinidad-and-tobago/imports-by-category). Not only is he putting waste products that would otherwise end up in landfill to use, Rahaman-Noronha is employing building styles that provide resilience against the island’s [changing climate](https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/trinidad-and-tobago#:~:text=As%20a%20Small%20Island%20Developing,and%20loss%20of%20coastal%20habitats.).

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    The Rastafarians opening up Caribbean cannabis farms to build a flourishing medical industry
    Circular EconomyJanuary 8, 2025

    The Rastafarians opening up Caribbean cannabis farms to build a flourishing medical industry

    Photograph: Demion McTair. Retrieved from theguardian.com On Golba Hill on the Caribbean island of [St Vincent and the Grenadines](https://www.theguardian.com/world/saint-vincent-and-the-grenadines) (SVG), just below a cluster of colourfully decorated homes, there are rows and rows of premium marijuana plants. Gleaming like green gold in the Caribbean sun, they lead up to a crudely constructed hut where cannabis farmer Bobbis Matthews spends most of his time nurturing and protecting his precious field. As he did his routine inspection, removing male plants that could diminish the potency of his crop, Matthews recalled a time, not too long ago, when the idea of a cannabis farm in a residential area was unthinkable. Like many of SVG’s cannabis farmers, Matthews is a Rastafarian who spent years hiding illegal cannabis fields deep in the mountains and living in fear of US-backed antinarcotics operations that would destroy millions of dollars worth of the plant. “It was hard! At least three times a year, US helicopters would come and tear down the crop. In those days, it felt like you couldn’t even say the word marijuana because just to say marijuana, you could get arrested,” Matthews said. “We had a song called Helicopter. It was about the panic and franticness whenever you hear the sound of the helicopter,” added Matthew’s cousin Erasto Robertson, a conservationist and fellow Rastafarian farmer. “Back then, we had to develop a good relationship with the police. And some would protect us because the policeman sometimes was the son or the brother of the marijuana farmer. They were the same blood, so they were protecting their family and the wealth of their family,” Robertson said

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    Students participate in ‘Tour de Trash’ exploring Oʻahu waste management facilities
    Circular EconomyJanuary 8, 2025

    Students participate in ‘Tour de Trash’ exploring Oʻahu waste management facilities

    Excerpt and Photo from hawaii.edu As the University of Hawaiʻi aims for zero-waste goals, students got a close up look at how waste is handled on Oʻahu through participating in a tour coordinated by the City and County of Honolulu to two waste management facilities: H-POWER and Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in December. This initiative, coordinated by the UH [Office of Sustainability](https://www.hawaii.edu/sustainability/), in partnership with the Student Sustainability Council, was part of the broader “Tour de Trash” program at UH, which aims to explore the path of our ʻōpala (trash). “The tour de trash was very eye-opening in learning how our waste gets managed and what gets done to it,” said Alexander Ah-Tye, a UH student participant. “Typically we don’t give throwing away trash a second thought since it’s out of sight and out of mind. Seeing it in person really makes you consider how much waste we produce within our island. It made me a little self-conscious of all the times I have haphazardly thrown tons of non-recyclable and non-renewable materials away.” The first stop was H-POWER, a waste-to-energy facility in Kapolei. Participants witnessed how municipal solid waste is incinerated to generate electricity for Oʻahu. A highlight was observing crane operators maneuvering massive amounts of waste into the incinerator. H-POWER processes approximately 700 tons of waste annually, showcasing its role in reducing landfill reliance while generating renewable energy.

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    The Grenada Green Group Tackles The Plastic Bottle Pollution Problem
    Circular EconomyDecember 10, 2024

    The Grenada Green Group Tackles The Plastic Bottle Pollution Problem

    Read the full document from [The Grenada Green Group](https://islandinnovation.co/wp-content/uploads/THE-GRENADA-GREEN-GROUP-TACKLES-THE-PLASTIC-BOTTLE-POLLUTION-PROBLEM.pdf) Grenada, known for its stunning beaches and lush green hills, faces a growing challenge: plastic pollution. Taking bold action against this environmental threat is the Grenada Green Group (G3), a non-governmental organization which was registered in 2014. The Grenada Green Group was founded by two tour operators who felt that the litter found throughout the island was not only an eyesore & sending the wrong message to tourists but also a health hazard. They made it their mission to try to tackle this, relying partially on the already existing Anti Litter Statutes passed in 2015. The group worked on eliminating single use plastic bags in grocery stores, eliminating Styrofoam containers for carry out food, awarding certificates to businesses which kept the premises litter free, doing presentations in school to engage young people in the fight against litter. One of the ways we did this was to ask the schools to organize a poster competition. The winning children were given cash prizes. There were several other initiatives but the most recent one, a campaign to collect plastic bottles, has been the most impactful. A chance encounter with a representative of Unite Caribbean resulted in obtaining a grant to initiate the bottle collection campaign & run it for 6 months. Data was collected on several components: The campaign under the Recycle OECS Project, focuses on collecting Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) bottles from across Grenada. These bottles are sent to the Queen’s Park Recycling Facility which is managed by the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority (GSWMA), for processing Additional funding received, has enabled the Grenada Green Group to continue and expand the campaign with the co operation of the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority and various communities throughout the island. It is our intention to add educational components to the campaign, specifically focusing on working with schools to engage young children. An effort will be made to reach out to all 6 parishes as well as our sister islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique & guide them in establishing their own plastic bottle collection campaigns with guidance from the Grenada Green Group

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    Plastic pollution: Chinese island’s plastic waste turned into artworks
    Circular EconomyDecember 6, 2024

    Plastic pollution: Chinese island’s plastic waste turned into artworks

    Excerpt and Photo from france24.com As storm clouds gathered on a forgotten beach in China’s Miaodao islands, artist Fu Junsheng picked his way through piles of plastic waste washed up along the shoreline, looking for inspiration.

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    UNDP Supports Sustainable Land Management Practices in Rodrigues
    Circular EconomyNovember 1, 2024

    UNDP Supports Sustainable Land Management Practices in Rodrigues

    Excerpt and Photo from UNDP.ORG A three-day consultative workshop was organised in Rodrigues from 22 to 24 October under the ‘[Sustainable Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation in the Republic of Mauritius](https://www.undp.org/mauritius-seychelles/projects/mainstreaming-sustainable-land-management-and-biodiversity-conservation-republic-mauritius)’ (SLM) Project. Chaired by the Department Head of the Commission for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Production, Forestry and Plant and Animal Quarantine, the workshop was attended by over 50 representatives from the various commissions of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly, institutions, NGOs and Farmers Associations. This initiative aimed at engaging key stakeholders, and gathering additional data and insights to inform project implementation and decision making. The Sustainable Land Management Project is funded by the Global Environment Facility, and implemented by the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, through the Forestry Service, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It aims to address these issues by scaling up the adoption of sustainable land management in production landscapes in Mauritius and Rodrigues. The expected outcomes include a strengthened policy and institutional framework; the development of skills, tools and incentives to pilot and implement SLM practices; and improving knowledge management and gender mainstreaming. **Strengthening policy and institutional framework** The first day of the workshop focused on the legal component of the project and included presentations which highlighted specific laws on sustainable land management in Rodrigues. Participants engaged in group sessions on current unsustainable land management practices, gaps in existing legislation, and the main challenges preventing the implementation of these laws on the island. Discussions also touched on the effective implementation of regulations concerning Environmentally Sensitive Areas, noting that in Rodrigues, around [80% of the land area](https://ecosud.mu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ESA-Classification-Report-FINAL.pdf)falls within one of the designated ESA types. The feedback received from participants will help to strengthen the policy and institutional framework for the promotion of SLM in Rodrigues.

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    Battling ocean plastic on Svalbard
    Circular EconomyNovember 1, 2024

    Battling ocean plastic on Svalbard

    Photo by Louise Krüger. Retrieved from oceanographicmagazine.com As oceanographer with Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Erik Van Sebille, explains: “Svalbard is at the end of a large conveyor belt circulation. A lot of the plastic from the US, Europe and so on, if it stays afloat, may end up there,” he says. The Norwegian Polar Institute estimates that there are over 79,000 tonnes of plastic in the deep water between Svalbard, Greenland and in the Barents Sea – the equivalent weight of about 50,000 cars. Every time there’s rough weather, storms or wind, that plastic washes up on shore and, if not washed out at sea again, stays there. Fortunately, this is about to change – at least for today. Only an hour after we’ve arrived and are settled in on the ship, we gear up in survival suits and head to the nearest beach. Wijdefjorden, the longest fjord of [Svalbard](https://oceanographicmagazine.com/features/svalbard-the-last-hunt-for-the-future/), opens out towards the northern coastline, and basking in the sun, it seems far from ghastly. Two volunteers and today’s polar bear guards disembark first to ensure the coast is clear. One of them is Sund. She swiftly dances out of her survival suit, steps into hiking boots and ascends the nearest hill. “Clear,” she radios back. Once confirmed, no bears in sight, the rest of us enter land, wiggling our way out of our survival suits, grabbing white plastic bags, and spreading along the beach to cover as much ground as possible. As if the race has begun, we start hunting for all pieces of trash we can find.

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