Plastic Free Laos

Creation of the Plastic Free Laos Certification and development of local auditing and support team.

Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI) Regional Training Workshop – Zimbabwe

In 2025, we partnered with UNEP’s Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI), the BRS Conventions Secretariat and the Environmental Management Agency of Zimbabwe to deliver regional sustainability training focused on reducing plastic pollution in tourism.

Partners:

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI)
Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions
Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Zimbabwe

Key workshop themes included:

Eliminating unnecessary single-use plastics
Introducing reusable alternatives
Understanding what can realistically be recycled locally
Operational feasibility and implementation barriers
Gender and inclusion within circular economy approaches
Tourism policy and industry collaboration
Communicating sustainability in credible and engaging ways

Interactive Learning in Practice

“What is the Lifespan of Plastics?” icebreaker exercises
KEEP, ELIMINATE, REPLACE operational workshops
Practical hotel single-use plastics audits
Policy-to-practice roundtable discussions
Sustainability communication co-creation exercises
Group reflection and implementation planning

Regional Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

Plastic bans and policy implementation
Circular economy opportunities in tourism
Local recycling realities
Sustainable procurement
Reuse systems and refill infrastructure
Behaviour change and customer engagement
Collaboration between public and private sectors

Tourism businesses across many destinations continue to face significant barriers when trying to reduce plastic waste, including:

Supplier dependency and packaging systems
Limited local recycling infrastructure
Operational pressures during busy service periods
Guest expectations and convenience culture
Lack of practical implementation guidance
Difficulty translating sustainability goals into daily operations

The workshop was designed to address these challenges through highly practical, collaborative and solutions-focused learning experiences.

The Challenge

Triple Impact Hospitality developed and facilitated a two-day interactive training programme combining:

Circular economy principles
Practical tourism operations training
Waste auditing methodologies
Behaviour change approaches
Group facilitation and peer learning
Policy-to-practice discussions
Sustainability communication strategies
The programme combined presentations, group activities, live hotel audits and collaborative workshops to encourage operational problem-solving and knowledge exchange across destinations and sectors.

Our Approach

Key Results

The workshop successfully strengthened participant understanding of:

Circular economy approaches within tourism
Practical single-use plastic reduction strategies
Reuse and refill systems
Waste auditing methodologies
Operational implementation challenges
Sustainability communication and storytelling
Cross-sector collaboration opportunities
Participants also completed practical hotel audits and developed realistic operational recommendations focused on reducing unnecessary plastics while maintaining operational feasibility

Services Delivered

Sustainability training design

Workshop facilitation

Circular economy training

GTPI operational guidance delivery

Tourism waste audit facilitation

Interactive learning design

Behaviour change methodologies

Stakeholder engagement facilitation

Sustainability communication workshops

Empezar

The workshop focused on helping participants move beyond awareness and towards practical implementation by exploring operationally realistic approaches to reducing single-use plastics, introducing reuse systems and strengthening circular economy thinking within tourism operations.

Participants included representatives from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Seychelles and Madagascar, alongside tourism businesses, suppliers and environmental organisations operating within the Victoria Falls destination.

Overview

lastic pollution is one of the most urgent environmental challenges facing tourism destinations worldwide, particularly in nature-based destinations where environmental quality is directly linked to visitor experience, livelihoods and long-term economic resilience.

As part of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI), Triple Impact Hospitality designed and delivered an interactive regional workshop in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, bringing together tourism businesses, government representatives, environmental agencies and sustainability stakeholders from across Africa.