- Turning hazardous waste into circular economy opportunities is a major challenge and priority for the Caribbean.
- Effective waste management, backed by policy, technical support, and financing, protects health, the environment, and local economies.
- The ISLANDS Program and Blue Tech for Waste Challenge drive scalable, job-creating circular solutions across the region.
When people picture the Caribbean, they imagine white-sand beaches, clear blue seas, and vibrant communities—assets that also underpin the region’s economies. In 2022, services accounted for between 55% and 78% of total GDP in most countries, with tourism remaining the main economic activity and representing an average of 25.4% of regional GDP between 2015 and 2019. Protecting this natural capital through sustainable practices, including circular economy approaches to waste management, is therefore essential to preserve these vital services and sustain long-term economic prosperity.
That is why the IDB Group partnered with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to implement the ISLANDS Program in the Caribbean, approved in 2021 and launched in 2022.
This initiative brings together projects across ten Caribbean countries to strengthen waste management systems and advance a circular economy in the region. The program also aligns with the 2024 ONE Caribbean initiative, demonstrating how effective hazardous waste management contributes to climate mitigation, institutional strengthening, and inclusive development.
Like many other Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Caribbean nations rely heavily on imported materials, so does waste generation —a problem amplified by tourism.
The Caribbean generates 40% more waste per person than Latin America on average, according to the Solid Waste and Circular Economy Hub. Limited land availability and reliance on aging or overburdened dumpsites make waste management an increasingly urgent environmental and public health challenge.
Despite growing awareness, Caribbean countries often lack the technical and institutional capacity to manage hazardous and other priority waste streams, such as tires, plastics and construction debris. Exporting recyclables is usually prohibitively expensive, while local recycling or recovery options remain scarce.
Although most countries have legislation in place, enforcement is often weak due to fragmented institutions, limited resources, and competing priorities. Regulations still focus primarily on disposal rather than circular-economy solutions, and even safe disposal remains financially challenging.
Effective solid waste management protects public health and the environment, boosts economic growth, creates jobs and contributes to climate action. Reducing gases, toxic and acid emissions from poorly managed waste systems helpslimit greenhouse gas emissions.
The ISLANDS Caribbean Program supports ten countries–Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago–in strengthening their hazardous chemicals and waste management systems.
Through technical assistance, catalytic financing, and private sector engagement, the initiative empowers governments, businesses, and communities to develop and scale sustainable circular waste management solutions. It targets nine priority waste streams: used lubricating oils; tires and end-of-life vehicles; electronic waste (e-waste); plastics; industrial waste; contaminated municipal and organic waste; medical waste; and hazardous pesticides.
E-waste refers to discarded electrical and electronic equipment—such as computers, mobile phones, televisions, and household appliances—that contain both valuable materials and hazardous substances requiring specialized handling.
The IDB, alongside the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean (BCRC-Caribbean), also supports policy and regulatory reforms through the project Advancing the Sustainable Management of Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes in the Caribbean.
These efforts help countries design or update legal frameworks, financing mechanisms, and administrative systems to manage hazardous waste streams such as e-waste, used oils, tires, and batteries. The program also promotes sustainable financing mechanisms and improves project bankability through prefeasibility and feasibility studies, as well as pilot initiatives in selected countries.
On the private sector side, IDB Lab leads the Blue Tech for Waste Challenge, which offers grants, catalytic or convertible financing, and technical support to pilot and scale circular, compliant, and job-creating models. Since its launch, the initiative has generated strong regional interest, receiving nearly 100 proposals — clear evidence that innovative solutions are emerging and can scale with the right support.
At the same time, the process revealed opportunities to strengthen business maturity and technical capacity in the waste sector, as reflected in the distribution of proposals across waste streams (see Figure 1).
Enhancing this entrepreneurial ecosystem will be key to enabling investment-ready, scalable circular economy models across the region.
Currently there are projects in implementation:
- Used and end-of-life tires: Two projects are underway. In Trinidad and Tobago, the program is partnering with Ecoimpact Ltd. to create a local tire collection network and implement a circular solution. In the Dominican Republic, Resicla is piloting a similar solution for used tires.
- Plastics: A project with Nueva Vida para los Residuos (NUVI) and the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) is creating a system for separation, collection, treatment and recycling, applying a hot-washing process with environmentally friendly solvents to reduce its environmental risks.
- Organic and municipal solid waste: A project with Close the Loop Caribbean is piloting a circular economy system to reduce the volume of organic waste reaching landfills in Trinidad and Tobago and convert it into value-added products and services.
- Used lubricating oils: A project with TOSL Engineering Ltd is piloting innovative technology that convert waste lubricating oils into base oils that can be used in manufacturing new lubricating oils, thereby extending their life within a circular economy model.
- E-waste: A project with Greening the Caribbean Inc. is piloting the first circular-economy Integrated E-Waste Management (IEWM) system in Saint Lucia, designed to divert recyclable e-waste at the source of generation.
The journey doesn’t end here. The ISLANDS Program continues to seek innovative, scalable projects —especially in countries and waste streams not yet represented in the current Blue Tech for Waste portfolio.
Transforming hazardous waste into a circular economy isn’t just about recycling—it’s about protecting the Caribbean’s natural capital, creating jobs, and fostering sustainable economic growth for generations to come.
If you are interested and think you could be a good fit for the initiative, we invite you to reach out at [email protected].