IUCN Plastic Pollution Programs (Coca-Cola Foundation funded)
Enriched UN / Multilateral · Found: 2026-03-11 12:22
IUCN received $10M from Coca-Cola Foundation to mitigate plastic packaging waste across 7 African islands. IUCN works on plastic pollution reduction in marine and coastal environments in developing countries.
Source: https://www.iucn.org/our-work/topic/plastic-pollution
Funding Details
- Funder
- IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) / The Coca-Cola Foundation
- Funding Goal
- Reduce plastic packaging waste and foster circular economy transitions in developing countries, particularly African island nations and Sub-Saharan Africa/Latin America, through community-centered waste collection, recycling, and circular solutions.
- Funding Amount
- IslandPlas Community Grants: USD 3,000–5,000 per project. EPPIC Innovation Prize: $1–2 million total purse (in development). Overall IslandPlas program: $10 million from Coca-Cola Foundation. (3.000 € – 5.000 €)
- Deadline
- 2026-01-16 (IslandPlas Community Grants most recent round) (Rolling)
- How to Apply
- For IslandPlas Community Grants: Complete the application form (Annex 01), submit with required documents by deadline. Disbursement in three tranches. Online Q&A sessions held before deadline. For EPPIC: Subscribe to EPPIC News for RFP announcements. Submit proposals during open RFP windows following specific guidelines. Contact grants@oceanfdn.org for questions. For EPPIC membership: Complete the EPPIC Membership Application Form (10-20 minutes), reviewed by Host Consortium partners.
- Target Region
- Africa (specifically African island nations: Mauritius, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Zanzibar for IslandPlas; Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa for EPPIC)
- Contact
- EPPIC: EPPIC@IUCN.org; EPPIC Grants: grants@oceanfdn.org; IUCN US: +1 (301) 678-3830, info@iucnus.org
- Official Page
- https://www.iucn.org/our-work/topic/plastic-and-other-pollution
- Last Checked
- 2026-03-12 06:07
Application Checklist
Eligibility
Project Scope
Required Documents
Constraints
Summary
IUCN runs several interconnected plastic pollution programs. The flagship is the IslandPlas project, a three-year initiative funded by a $10 million grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation — the Foundation's largest grant ever. IslandPlas targets seven African island nations (Mauritius, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, and Zanzibar) with the goal of collecting approximately 14,000 tons of plastic waste, recycling 5,600 tons, enhancing livelihoods for 9,600 informal waste sector workers, and leveraging $2 million in capital investments for innovation and enterprise development. Within IslandPlas, IUCN issues Community Grants of USD 3,000–5,000 for 6–9 month projects focused on circular economy solutions such as waste collection/sorting, upcycling, refill/reuse models, and recycling support. These are available to community-based organizations, cooperatives, women's and youth groups, small social enterprises, and informal-sector entities in Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Zanzibar. The most recent call for proposals had a deadline of January 16, 2026. Separately, IUCN hosts the End Plastic Pollution International Collaborative (EPPIC), a public-private partnership funded primarily by the U.S. Department of State, with partners including The Aspen Institute, The Ocean Foundation, and Searious Business. EPPIC provides grants targeting in-country entities in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa for upstream and midstream plastic pollution interventions. EPPIC is also developing a plastics innovation prize of $1–2 million targeting micro, small, and medium enterprises. Grant opportunities are announced through periodic Requests for Proposals. Together these programs represent IUCN's comprehensive approach to addressing plastic pollution through policy advocacy, community action, circular economy models, and innovation support in developing countries.
Historical Context
IslandPlas launched in June 2024 as a three-year project. The $10 million grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation is described as the Foundation's largest grant to date. The project supports the Ministerial Declaration from the September 2023 Ministerial Conference on the Blue and Circular Economy in Island States of Africa and the Indian Ocean. EPPIC has run at least one RFP round in 2024, funding projects in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa. IUCN hosted an IslandPlas workshop in Mauritius in mid-2025. Community grants call for proposals was issued in December 2025 with a January 2026 deadline, suggesting recurring rounds.
Why it was added
IUCN plastic pollution program with major Coca-Cola Foundation funding for African islands
Sources
- https://www.iucn.org/our-work/topic/plastic-pollution
- https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution
- https://www.iucn.org/our-work/projects
- https://www.iucn.org/our-work/topic/plastic-and-other-pollution
- https://www.iucn.org/our-work/supporting-conservation-action
- https://iucn.org/story/202406/coca-cola-foundation-donates-10-million-help-reduce-plastic-packaging-waste-7-african
- https://iucn.org/our-work/topic/plastic-and-other-pollution/end-plastic-pollution-international-collaborative-eppic
- https://iucn.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/call-for-proposals_guidelines_community-grants.pdf
- https://iucnus.org/project/islandplas/
Similar Programs
| Program | Source | Shared Tags |
|---|---|---|
| GEF Small Grants Programme - Africa Country Programs | UN / Multilateral | 12 |
| World Bank - Clean Cities, Bright Futures (Solid Waste Management) | UN / Multilateral | 12 |
| Alliance to End Plastic Waste - Global Plastic Waste Solutions | Philanthropic Network | 12 |
| UNDP Management of Plastics Waste and Circular Interventions in South and Southeast Asia | UN / Multilateral | 12 |
| Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) - WEF | Corporate | 12 |