Seychelles has emerged as a global reference point for small island nations tackling plastic pollution, achieving a 90 percent collection rate for PET bottles and diverting more than 400 million units from landfills and natural environments.
This success is documented in a new UNDP case study, Beating Plastic Pollution: Key Insights and Lessons from Seychelles’ Deposit-Refund Scheme, launched during the Africa Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA) 2025 Annual Meeting.
Plastic pollution presents severe environmental, economic, and social challenges for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where waste management infrastructure is often limited. Deposit-refund schemes (DRS), in which consumers pay a small deposit refunded upon returning bottles for recycling, offer a practical pathway to reduce plastic leakage, recover materials, and create sustainable financing for waste management.
Seychelles is among the first African nations to implement such a scheme nationally. The case study, developed jointly by UNDP and the Government of Seychelles under the ISLANDS Indian Ocean Project, details the country’s journey from concept to execution, highlighting the obstacles encountered and the enabling factors for success. Stakeholder engagement, clear communication, and coordinated planning were central to achieving near-universal participation and operational efficiency.
UNDP emphasizes that the Seychelles experience provides a replicable framework for other SIDS and African nations. Charles Nyandiga, Regional Technical Lead for Environment at UNDP, highlighted that the ISLANDS Project aims to leverage this model to scale circular economy solutions across the region, demonstrating that effective plastic management can align with broader sustainability goals.
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