Island Waste, Island Wealth
SAFER Project – Strengthening Activism for Environmental Rights
Supported by the European Union, this series by Land Sea Maldives marks the beginning of our investigation into the hidden costs of environmental damage and how they affect livelihoods and growth. This post explores waste management on Maldivian islands, and how the shift from “waste burden” to “wealth opportunity” is both a challenge and a livelihood potential.
Introduction
In a country made of over a thousand small islands, the issue of waste is more than a sanitation problem—it’s an economic and environmental one. The Maldives generates over 860 metric tons of waste each day, with plastics dominating the stream.¹ For island communities—where resorts, local commerce, fisheries and guest-houses intertwine with the marine and land environment—waste mismanagement imposes hidden costs on livelihoods ranging from guest-service staff to fishers to local shop-keepers. This piece examines those costs and the emerging opportunities to turn waste into income.
Waste, Environment & Livelihoods
On Maldivian islands, waste-streams are closely tied to employment and local services. Poorly managed waste degrades the marine ecosystem (which supports tourism and fisheries), reduces island cleanliness and appeal (impacting tourism jobs), and raises costs for local councils and businesses.¹ For instance:
Open-burning or dumping on island edges can affect air quality and health, increasing repair and health-cost burdens for residents and businesses.²
Microplastics and marine debris can undermine fisheries and reef health – fishers face lower catches, and tour-operators face degraded dive and snorkel experiences.¹
Lack of recycling or resource-recovery means islands lose out on income-streams from reuse, composting, remanufacture—opportunities for local entrepreneurs.¹
A shift is underway: the national policy now emphasises a circular economy model—reducing, re-using, recycling and recovering resources so that waste becomes value rather than cost.³
Hidden Costs & Growth Opportunities
The hidden costs of mismanaged waste can include lost tourism jobs, reduced fish-landing volumes, increased import dependence for packaging/materials, and constrained local enterprise. On the flip side, growth opportunities arise when waste becomes resource: compost from island organic waste, recycling plastics into goods, refurbishing e-waste, local repair-enterprises, and island-level infrastructure for resource recovery.³
For example, a World Bank-feature on the Maldives shows how youth-led waste-to-wealth initiatives can build local employment and strengthen island-resilience.¹ The potential for local economic growth tied to circular-economy models on islands is therefore substantial—but only if investment, training and policy align.
What Island Communities Should Explore
Are waste-streams on your island well managed (collection, separation, processing) or does mis-management impose hidden costs on households and businesses?
Are there local enterprises that could use “waste” as raw-material (composting, recycled-plastic goods, repair & reuse)?
How do guest-houses, resorts and fishing businesses on your island experience the effects of waste (marine debris reducing tourism appeal, waste-costs rising, service-interruptions)?
Is your island council or community linkage to national circular-economy policy strong—and are livelihoods embedded in that plan?
Conclusion
Waste management in the Maldives is not just an environmental task—it is a livelihood challenge and an opportunity for growth. When islands treat waste as a cost burden, jobs, income and growth suffer. When islands reframe waste as resource, new livelihoods emerge, resilience strengthens and growth potential rises. Under the SAFER Project’s first stage, we are beginning to uncover this transformation path: waste → environmental cost → livelihood cost or opportunity. The next step lies in island-level action and enterprise.
References
Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Technology. (2024). Magey Saafu Raajje National Waste & Resource Management Policy & Strategy. https://www.environment.gov.mv/v2/download/3867/ ²
United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). Advancing plastic circularity in the Maldives. https://www.undp.org/maldives/projects/advancing-plastic-circularity ⁴
World Bank. (2022, July 27). Maldives is turning waste to wealth, energizing youth, to safeguard its future. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2022/07/22/maldives-is-turning-waste-to-wealth-energizing-youth-to-safeguard-its-future ¹
Indian Ocean Commission & others. (2023). National circular economy framework & guidelines: Maldives. https://www.commissionoceanindien.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Maldives_Circular-Economy-Framework_ENG-FINAL.pdf ³
