On July 14, 2026, the Prevention of Marine Litter in the Caribbean Sea (PROMAR) Project took part in the Closing the Caribbean Plastic Tap National Stakeholder Workshop on Plastic Policy Action, held at the Marriott Hotel in Frigate Bay, St. Kitts. Representing the St. Christopher and Nevis Community College (CFBC) and PROMAR, Fidel O'Flaherty participated as PROMAR's Focal Point in St. Kitts and lead on circular economy solutions, contributing practical insights from the project to national policy discussions on plastic pollution.

 

Convened under the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Closing the Caribbean Plastic Tap Project, the workshop focused on validating the draft Caribbean Plastic Pollution Policy Opportunities and Roadmap for St. Kitts and Nevis. Participants reviewed the country's existing plastic policy landscape and discussed proposed actions relating to legislation, institutional coordination, enforcement, financing, and circular economy development. Conversations also examined data gaps, institutional responsibilities, and the feasibility of key policy measures, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Deposit Return Systems (DRS), waste segregation, and regional recycling infrastructure.

 

O'Flaherty introduced participants to CFBC's work under PROMAR to advance plastic recovery, beneficial reuse, and circular economy solutions across St. Kitts and Nevis. He highlighted the strong partnerships already established across government, statutory bodies, the private sector, NGOs, academia, and regional and international partners, presenting these collaborations as a model for translating policy into practical, on-the-ground implementation.

 

Drawing on research and firsthand observations from PROMAR, including lessons from the project's study tour to Medellín, Colombia, O'Flaherty outlined several challenges facing plastic recycling and EPR implementation within Small Island Developing States (SIDS). He noted that the relatively small volumes of recyclable material generated within individual islands can make recycling systems and circular economy industries difficult to sustain without sufficient economies of scale, reinforcing the need for greater regional cooperation rather than each country attempting to build a complete recycling value chain independently. The draft roadmap echoes this challenge, similarly recognizing that individual OECS countries face limitations in achieving economies of scale and proposing greater regional integration of recycling, DRS, and EPR systems.

 

O'Flaherty also emphasized that while government commitment, including appropriate legislation, enforcement, and institutional support, is essential, it cannot solve the plastic pollution problem alone. Public attitudes and behaviors around consumption, waste generation, separation, and disposal must also shift. Without strong public participation, many recycling, EPR, and circular economy initiatives will struggle to achieve the material recovery rates needed to remain effective and financially sustainable over the long term.

 

He further recommended that the OECS continue pursuing a coordinated regional approach to plastic waste management. Harmonized policies, shared systems, and stronger regional markets could allow member states to pool waste streams and achieve the economies of scale needed for viable circular economy industries. This approach could also create opportunities for individual countries to specialize in processing specific waste streams, developing complementary industries across the region rather than duplicating costly infrastructure within each small island economy, an approach consistent with the roadmap's emphasis on regional recycling infrastructure and harmonized DRS and EPR frameworks.

 

The workshop offered CFBC a valuable opportunity to contribute practical lessons from PROMAR to national policy discussions, while also learning from other stakeholders shaping the Federation's plastic waste management framework. It further reinforced the connection between PROMAR's circular economy activities and broader national and regional conversations on EPR, recycling, behavioral change, policy development, and sustainable financing.

 

Participation in the workshop demonstrated the value of combining policy development with practical implementation, stakeholder collaboration, and regional knowledge exchange. It also reinforced a key lesson emerging from PROMAR's work: sustainable solutions to plastic pollution in Small Island Developing States require government leadership, public behavioral change, private sector participation, and stronger regional cooperation to build the scale necessary for viable, long-term circular economy systems across the Caribbean.