By Sabine Berendse | Founder
Over the past months, Green Phenix has continued to turn plastic waste into opportunity in Curaçao. By combining circular production with inclusive work programmes, we address two urgent challenges at once: plastic pollution and social exclusion, while building solutions that fit the realities of island communities.
What we achieved
Together with partners and community members, we collected and processed more than 33,700 kg of plastic across 2024 and 2025, slightly exceeding our initial target. This reflects the continued growth of a local circular system in which plastic is treated as a resource rather than waste.
We also advanced one of our most important innovation tracks: finding local uses for plastic that cannot easily be exported or recycled through conventional systems. With partners including Betonindustrie Brievengat and Curaçaose Wegenbouw Maatschappij, we carried out pilots and lab tests to explore how PET can be incorporated into construction materials.
For Curaçao, this is more than a technical experiment. It is a practical step towards a local solution for plastic that would otherwise remain on the island.
Although a related proposal to the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund was not selected, the work reinforced the importance of locally grounded circular solutions. We are now exploring new partnerships and funding pathways to continue this work.
Social impact
Our Learn & Work and day activity programmes continued to provide participants with structure, skills, and confidence. We are seeing participants develop greater independence, stronger routines, and a more active role within the team.
In everyday practice, this becomes visible in small but meaningful ways: people arriving with purpose, taking initiative, and supporting others.
We were also proud to welcome Kim, who has been involved since the beginning as a volunteer, into the team in an official role. Her work strengthens both participant support and community engagement, which are essential to long-term impact.
Building the local ecosystem
Despite earlier operational changes, we maintained our collection network and continued to strengthen collaboration across Curaçao’s circular economy.
We work closely with recyclers, logistics partners, businesses, and community members, helping to build a local ecosystem in which responsibility for plastic is shared across the value chain.
At the same time, we are connecting practice to policy and research. Through collaborations with students and ongoing engagement around producer responsibility and material governance, we are contributing to wider recognition that island contexts require more tailored and equitable circular solutions.
Products and income generation
Our product line continued to grow, including sea turtle souvenirs and heart-shaped items made from recovered plastic. These products reduce plastic waste locally, generate income to sustain our work, and make circularity visible and tangible for residents and visitors.
Each product represents a small but meaningful transformation, from waste into something of value.
Challenges and next steps
Ensuring continuity in funding remains an important focus as we continue to build long-term impact in Curaçao.
We are therefore very grateful that our long-term partnerships with TUI Care Foundation and Stichting DOEN have been extended. In addition, we recently secured a new partner, enabling us to strengthen our team with the formal addition of Kim. These developments provide a strong foundation for the next phase of our work.
In the coming months, we will focus on:
advancing PET applications in construction, building on the work from the previous period
strengthening pathways from participation to employment
expanding product development and market reach
continuing to advocate for policy conditions that support circular solutions on islands
Thank you
Your support makes this work possible. Together, we are reducing plastic pollution, creating opportunity, and building locally grounded solutions for a more resilient Curaçao.
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By Sabine Berendse | Founder
By Sabine Berendse | Founder
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