The 3R Ecopoint Network initiative highlights the importance of partnerships in achieving a Circular Economy. The video relates how the grantee engages with ministries, plastic waste recyclers and communities to ensure their sustainability. Footage and images showcase the activities implemented to create more value from the collected waste in the community via a market-based solution that contributes to cleaning the environment and providing income to marginally employed or unemployed people, with 697 waste pickers now working in Vilanculos. So far, the initiative has contributed to the collection and management of over 15 tons of waste. The video also highlights the fragility of the market for recycled plastic and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis ad how 3R coped with its associated challenges.

“Our idea, our wish, was to transform the sector, to make the sector more sustainable. But, when you talk about transforming a sector, you need regulation to be the framework to support that. Since 2014, 3R has been working with the Ministry of Land and Environment on regulations that could strengthen the sector. The main achievement of this period was the approval of the EPR regulation in December 2017. This decree includes an environmental tax that will come from this material that is distributed in Mozambique, and it will be used to support initiatives related to recycling and segregation and much more,” Maíra Valladares, Director, 3R 

The 3R Ecopoint Network is one of the five circular economy initiatives IUCN supported as part of its MARPLASTICCs project working to reduce the amount of plastic leaking into the marine environment. The initiative has established a financially sustainable and environmentally sound value chain for plastic waste in Vilanculos, and is working towards reducing plastic leakage in Bazaruto Archipelago National Park (BANP). IUCN helped 3R establish four Ecopoints in Vilanculos where plastic waste materials are collected at cost from waste pickers, micro-enterprises, and local residents and organisations. This initiative showcases the benefits of implementing the circular economy in reducing marine plastic pollution while creating additional livelihood opportunities. 

About MARPLASTICCS

In 2017, with generous support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), IUCN launched the Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities initiative (MARPLASTICCs), an initiative in Africa and Asia that works in five countries: Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The project consists of four pillars: capacity building through circular economy initiatives, production of knowledge products – including the national guidance and reports on plastic pollution hotspotting, economic and regulatory policy analysis in each country, and connecting with the private sector with a business component to help businesses identify plastic leakage in their value chains. As part of the Capacity pillar, MARPLASTICCs has been supporting existing, small-scale circular economy initiatives that aim to reduce the amount of plastic leaking into the marine environment. MARPLASTICCs has provided a financial grant of up to USD 50,000, in each target country. 

To learn more, please visit: https://www.iucn.org/theme/marine-and-polar/our-work/close-plastic-tap-programme/marplasticcs   

Supported by Sida

Photo: SIDA