Original Article by:
Claire Montocchio, Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth
Antaya March, Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth
Rouane Brokensha, Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth
Mialy Andriamahefazafy, Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth
Christophe Schuman, Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission
Pierre Failler, Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth
He Yuan, Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth
Summary
African and Indian Ocean Developing Island States (AIODIS) are disproportionately affected by marine pollution, biodiversity loss, and social inequality stemming from the global linear economic model. A circular economy (CE) model offers a path for these nations to build thriving economies while mitigating environmental harm.
To achieve this, the authors present a five-point roadmap to guide governments, businesses, and civil society: 1.Establish Specific Regulations This includes expanding thePolluter Pays Principle (PPP) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). 2.Improve CE Literacy: This includes educational campaigns, public workshops, media promotion, and better access to financing for CE projects. 3.Improve Material Stock Management: AIODIS need to optimise waste collection and sorting systems, scaling up recycling initiatives to a regional level, and investing in sustainable infrastructure. 4.Restore and Manage Natural Flows: The CE model also involves regenerating natural systems by improving the monitoring of natural resources and expanding regenerative projects. 5. Support CE-Related Businesses: Governments should provide structural and financial support to help businesses in key sectors (tourism, fisheries, agriculture) transition to circular models.
Implementing this roadmap will require a tailored approach for each island, strong regional collaboration, and continuous monitoring to ensure its success.
Island states, including those in Africa and the Indian Ocean, are heavily impacted by the consequences of the current global linear economic model such as marine pollution, the biodiversity crisis, and widening social inequality (Teixidó-Figueras et al., 2016; Marques et al., 2019). They are disproportionately affected by the widespread use of plastics despite playing a relatively small part its global production and trade.
A circular economy (CE) offers a compelling alternative for African and Indian Ocean Developing Island States (AIODIS), namely Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Cabo Verde, the Maldives, Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Príncipe. With its restorative dimension (Winans et al., 2017), a correctly implemented CE can provide a pathway for AIODIS to mitigate environmentally harmful practices while allowing for a thriving economy.
While most of the AIODIS countries have laws and policies for environmental protection or waste management, these efforts are often fragmented. Progress is hampered by a heavy reliance on imported goods, persistent waste management crises and the lack of a long-term, coordinated planning.
To address this, the study proposes a five-point roadmap to guide governments, businesses and civil society in adopting a targeted and cohesive plan towards achieving a circular economy.
1. Establish specific circular economy regulations
Although only recently implemented, laws and policies that promote CE principles already exist across all eight AIODIS countries (Adriamahefazafy & Failler, 2022). For instance, all eight countries have renewable flow management regulations to protect their environment and biodiversity, regulate fisheries, and manage forestry. Most AIODIS states also have established Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and have adopted a water management policy. Existing laws and policies also address stock and waste management (Andriamahefazafy & Failler, 2022) and have tackled plastic pollution through bans and phase-outs of plastic bags and single-use plastics.
Despite such promising efforts, most AIODIS countries still lack a clear, detailed, and targeted plan for effective implementation. To address this fragmentation, African islands can increase collaboration through knowledge-sharing and the exchange of best practices, especially with countries such as Cabo Verde which is the leading country in implementing two foundational CE principles: the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
The Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) ensures that those who cause pollution bear the costs of managing it to protect from harm and protect the environment.
The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach that holds waste producers accountable for the entire lifecycle of their product, including collection, recycling, and final disposal] and encourages them to design products that are easier to reuse and recycle.
Key Recommendations:
Strengthen and Expand PPP and EPR: AIODIS countries which already apply these two principles should update and strengthen their implementation. There should also be introduced in countries where they are currently absent.
Private responsibility and Public-Private Collaboration: PPP and the EPR will need to include the private sector as a major polluter, with the implementation of effective enforcement strategies with penalties for polluters across the private and public sector.
To that effect, there should be more collaboration between the private and public sectors to develop a strategic CE plan. This could be achieved through overarching legislation that encourages stakeholder collaboration and a harmonisation of efforts.
Integrate CE into Blue Economy Policies: The CE approach could also be incorporated withing current or future blue economy policies of the AIODIS countries.
2. Improve CE literacy through awareness and education campaigns
Since the CE concept is relatively new in AIODIS countries, both local populations and governments are yet to fully explore its potential (Andriamahefazafy & Failler, 2022). A successful implementation of a CE highly depends on achieving a harmonised definition and understanding of the CE across all levels of society.
Key Recommendations:
- Support and replicate existing initiatives and educational activities undertaken by governments, businesses, and local communities.
- Conduct more workshops to engage the wider public.
- Reintroduce school campaigns to raise awareness among young people.
- Utilise media campaigns to promote local projects and products with circular purposes.
- Foster collaboration between major industrial partners and authorities.
- Increase engagement with companies to introduce them to circular economic models and their importance.
- Develop policies on awareness raising on the CE.
- Facilitate access to financing for circular economy projects and programs.
3. Improve material stock management
Most AIODIS countries face high levels of industrial pollution and waste accumulation in cities and beaches. This is, in part, a direct result of inconsistent collection systems and a lack of effective treatment facilities. Despite punctual efforts in some of the AIODIS countries through community-based or private sector backed recycling initiatives, these remain insufficient as not systematic or systemic.
Key Recommendations:
Optimise Waste Systems: First, optimise existing collection and sorting systems to facilitate recycling and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. This would entail increasing the number of collection points, introducing robust sorting procedures and sustainable treatment facilities.
Monitor Industrial Waste: Enhance the capacity for industrial waste monitoring and establish a strict penalty system for contraveners.
Support and Scale Up Recycling: Support existing companies and encourage the establishment of new companies working on the sustainable waste collection, sorting and valorisation. Existing recycling activities should be scaled up from the national to the regional level as smaller quantities of waste can be an obstacle to the implementation of recycling strategies.
Invest in Sustainable Infrastructure: Instead of simple landfills, islands should invest in more sustainable treatment sites such as landfills with gas capture, waste=to-energy incinerators, waste sorting and treatment plants, and recycling hubs.
4. Restore and better managing the use of natural flows
Beyond managing man-made materials, adopting a circular economy also entails working towards regenerating the natural systems that island economies depend on. AIODIS countries still lag in that respect accounting for high levels of resource extraction, namely from fisheries with a combined annual output of about 465,000 tonnes per year (FAO, 2021).
Key Recommendations:
Improve Resource Monitoring: Improve existing monitoring practices of natural resources such as fish stocks, and forest coverage. Better monitoring would allow islands to gather knowledge of natural resources to inform policymaking regarding resource extraction.
Expand Regenerative Initiatives: Expand and strengthen regenerative initiatives such as fishery management plans (for example, by enforcing temporary closures to allow fish stocks to recover), mangrove restoration, Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMAs), and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to rebuild natural capital. Seychelles offers a successful model, having protected approximately 30 % of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) through effective marine spatial planning.
Replenish Soil Nutrients: Promote composting to replenish soil nutrients in the case of feedstock extraction.
5. Support to CE-related businesses
While the government is responsible for implementing nation-wide laws and policies, businesses and entrepreneurs can offer a more practical approach to the CE transition. Collaboration between the public and private sectors would allow for developing a CE model which is adaptable across sectors. Yet, across AIODIS, entrepreneurs are often unaware of the potential and benefits of a circular economy while those already engaged in CE activities are not well supported.
The roadmap recommends that governments provide both structural and financial support to help businesses transition to circular models. In the AIODIS region, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, services, and manufacturing have been identified as key industries for advancing circular economy.
The study identified four distinct types of circular business models already taking root in the region, offering valuable templates for others:
- Circular Design: Businesses that design products for reuse and repair. For example, the Good Shop in Mauritius, which promotes sustainable fashion by selling pre-owned clothing and donating unsold items for repair and resale.
- Optimal Material and Resource Use: Companies that master efficiency using industrial symbiosis, a process where waste becomes another’s raw material. Indian Ocean Tuna in Seychelles maximises the use of the entire fish, extracting oil from heads and converting other waste into animal feed
- Value Recovery: Businesses that are experts at repairing, remanufacturing, and recycling. Parley Maldives, for instance, has gained global recognition for its work turning plastic bottles collected from the ocean into footwear and clothing.
- Collaborative Economy: This model involves businesses working together to share infrastructure or create new value chains. In Seychelles, Samlo & Sons collaborates with local and international partners to collect and export scrap metal and car batteries, creating a viable business where one company acting alone might struggle.
From Roadmap to Reality
Implementing this CE roadmap will require a contextual approach so as to adapt the recommendations to the unique challenges and potential of each of the AIODIS. Regional collaboration and partnerships as well as targeted interventions can help overcome obstacles arising from the small size of most AIODIS through the optimisation of resource allocation. Organisations like the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities have a pivotal role toward a regional CE transition.
Finally, to successfully implement this roadmap, it is essential to build capacity and awareness among stakeholders and to continuously monitor and evaluate initiatives. so as to increase the roadmap’s adaptability and flexibility. This ensures the roadmap remains adaptable and flexible.
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You can read the full article here: Montocchio, C., March, A., Brokensha, R., Andriamahefazafy, M., Schuman, C., Failler, P., & Yuan, H. (2025). A circular economy roadmap for African and Indian Ocean developing island states. Circular Economy, 100143.
Other publications by the Authors:
Andriamahefazafy, M., Haas, B., Campling, L., Le Manach, F., Goodman, C., Adams, T. J., & Hanich, Q. (2024). Advancing tuna catch allocation negotiations: an analysis of sovereign rights and fisheries access arrangements. npj Ocean Sustainability, 3(1), 16.
Bennett, M., March, A., Raguain, J., & Failler, P. (2024, February). Blueprint for blue carbon: lessons from Seychelles for small island states. In Oceans (Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 81-108). MDPI.
Liu, Jiawen, Pierre Failler, and Dindial Ramrattan. “Blue carbon accounting to monitor coastal blue carbon ecosystems.” Journal of Environmental Management 352 (2024): 120008.
Yuan, H., & Failler, P. (2025). Defining the Blue Economy–in a language functional approach. Maritime Studies, 24(1), 14.
Main photo from Freepik
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