06/04/2026
I was thinking about how we handle our things here in Mauritius.
Every day, we produce nearly 1,500 tonnes of waste. Plastics alone add up to 116,000 tonnes a year.
And yet, only about 4 % of it gets recycled. The rest? Landfills, incineration, or lost to the environment.
This has real consequences. Our main landfill - Mare Chicose - is reaching capacity, leaking pollutants into soil and waterways, and putting coastal ecosystems at risk.
Plastic litter on our beaches and in lagoons harms marine life, affects tourism, and threatens the health of communities that depend on the sea.
Half of our household waste is actually recyclable. The potential is there. The instinct is there.
But overconsumption - single-use products, fast fashion, electronics churn - keeps us producing more than we can manage.
What’s missing isn’t desire. It’s structure, visibility, and opportunity.
If we built systems around what already exists - repair, reuse, upcycle - waste could become real economic and social value.
Progress doesn’t always mean inventing something new.
Sometimes, it’s just seeing what’s already there.
Last year, while visiting Thailand, I was struck by how the “repair‑reuse economy” is part of everyday life.
I saw an old man carefully fixing a worn plush toy - giving it a new life, ready to become a child’s favorite again.
It’s not about grand circular economy plans or big sustainability narratives.
Often, it’s just common sense.
Something broken, or something we no longer use, can be repaired, reused, and given to someone else.
