The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) BlueTech for Waste innovation challenge is open for applications from 19 April to 31 May 2022. The call is open to private sector organizations from twelve Caribbean countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Private sector partners - including startups, foundations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), nonprofits and corporates – with “ready to implement” innovative business models to address priority waste streams, are invited to apply. 

Priority waste streams include lubricating oils, used and end-of-life tires, used and end-of-life-vehicles, used and end-of-life electronic and electrical equipment (e-waste), plastic waste, manufacturing/industrial waste, organic and municipal solid waste, medical waste and hazardous pesticides. Proposed solutions must be scalable, sustainable, and promote the economic and social inclusion of poor and vulnerable populations. 

Requests for non-reimbursable grants or contingent recovery financing for technical assistance can range from US$300,000 to US$750,000. In the case of loans, amounts can range from US$500,000 to US$2,000,000. Applicants will be expected to contribute at least 50% of the project’s total budget.

This opportunity is being implemented by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through its innovation laboratory IDB Lab, with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development (ISLANDS) Programme, which seeks to support innovative solutions that contribute to the sound management of hazardous chemicals and waste products and materials to protect human health and the environment in the Caribbean region.

The Caribbean private sector has a unique opportunity to benefit from available financial support to continue undertaking environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste with innovative technologies and processes that follow a circular economy approach. The challenge is aligned with the IDB Group’s commitment to support greener economies in the Latin American and the Caribbean region to respond to the challenges of the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and related environmental issues. 

• More information on the challenge’s timeline, evaluation criteria and selection process can be found here.
• Deadline for submissions are 31 May 2022 (24:00 EST).

About ISLANDS

The Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development in Small Island Developing States (ISLANDS) program is a $515-million, five-year initiative backed by the Global Environment Facility (providing $61 million) and partners, and implemented with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the IDB. Participating countries include: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cook Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

About the IDB Lab

IDB Lab is the innovation laboratory of the IDB Group, the leading source of development finance and know-how for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion in the region, by mobilizing financing, knowledge and connections to co-create solutions capable of transforming the lives of vulnerable populations affected by economic, social or environmental factors.