Prevention of Plastic Waste in Central America and the Caribbean – Belize

Plastic waste pollution is contributing to the increasing destruction of Caribbean marine ecosystems. These ecosystems have many vital environmental functions and are the basis for important economic sectors in the region such as fishing and tourism. To preserve ecosystems, plastic waste must be prevented from entering the ocean. At the same time, the amount of existing plastic waste must be reduced. However, recycling systems in the region are often underdeveloped. Often, only high-value materials (e.g., metals) are sent to a recycling process, while plastics end up in landfills. The private sector lacks capacity for sustainable waste and environmental management. In addition, awareness of the environmental impact of plastic waste is low in both the business community and civil society.

The regional "Caribe Circular" project in the Caribbean, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), aims to improve the political, economic and social framework to prevent plastic waste leaking in the Caribbean. As part of this project, adelphi supports GIZ and its partner the Department of Environment in Belize in implementing country-specific activities. These activities aim at promoting regional exchange and networking of relevant actors in order to intensify the exchange on the project topic. At the same time, the role of the private sector is also to be strengthened to improve the balance of plastic waste through innovative value chains. Furthermore, a pilot project will be conducted as part of the activities to implement plastic waste prevention models and evaluate their effectiveness in Belize. As an overarching supporting activity, awareness will be raised in the public and private sectors to help realise national implementation plans.