In the global fight against pollution there is always room for innovation, especially when the innovators themselves perceive the steady deterioration of the environment around them. To seek out new ideas to address problems associated with the disposal of hazardous materials such as end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), plastic and manufacturing waste, among others, the Innovation Lab of the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Lab, in collaboration with ISLANDS, launched the Blue Tech for Waste innovation challenge earlier this year in the Caribbean region.
There was a huge response with fifty proposals coming in from nine countries, of which six have been selected for further financing and development. The proposals were judged on a set of criteria that included the degree of innovation, social and environmental impact, promotion of gender equity, and their potential for scalability, financial sustainability, and viability for execution.
The six proposals going forward came from Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and cover lithium battery reuse and servicing, plastic packaging, biomass combustion, waste to cement repurposing, tyre recycling and compostable packaging.
For more information on all these exciting initiatives check out the link to the IDB Lab’s announcement of results and website.
About ISLANDS
The Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development in Small Island Developing States (ISLANDS) programme is a $515-million, five-year initiative backed by the Global Environment Facility (providing $61 million) and partners, and implemented with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the IDB. Participating countries include: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cook Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
About IDB Lab
IDB Lab is the innovation laboratory of the IDB Group, the leading source of development finance and know-how for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion in the region, by mobilizing financing, knowledge, and connections to test early-stage solutions with the potential to transform the lives of vulnerable populations affected by economic, social, and/or environmental factors. Since 1993 IDB Lab has approved more than US$ 2 billion in projects deployed across 26 LAC countries. www.idblab.org