A Community Effort to Protect the Southern Nicoya Peninsula

Our Goal

To reduce solid waste along the beaches of Malpaís, Carmen, Santa Teresa, Hermosa, and Manzanillo, while repurposing recovered materials into valuable resources that support circular economy initiatives.

How It Works

Our dedicated team of five collectors works Monday to Friday, from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., cleaning our local beaches, from Malpaís to Manzanillo and ensuring that waste is handled responsibly.

After each collection:

• Materials are sorted, weighed, and temporarily stored at our Beach Cleanup Station — our operations hub.

• The “tragic plastics” are sent to Pedregal in Heredia, where they are transformed into RESIN8®, an innovative construction material made from recycled plastic.

• Other recyclables, such as glass, metal, and tires, are processed through conventional recycling channels

Thanks to our partnership with: 

• CRDC (Center for Regenerative Design & Collaboration) – innovators behind the RESIN8® recycling technology.

• Grupo Pedregal – the construction company implementing CRDC’s technology.

• Paisajes sin Plástico – part of Costa Rica’s national strategy for reducing plastic pollution

We are 1 of only 4 places in the world that is recycling “tragic plastics”!

Since the inception of the project in June 2023, we have removed a total of 25,934 kilograms of waste from the community’s beaches and our impact is growing by about 50% each year. The majority of that has been “tragic plastics”, plastic that was previously not recycled but that is now sent to Pedregal to be transformed into RESIN8® concrete blocks. 

Please give your support and help us reach our goal of collecting 20,000 Kg in 2026!

All donations to the NP Waterkeeper Fund are tax-deductible in the U.S. and you get a receipt immediately upon donating.

If you have any questions or are interested in donating via other methods (wire transfer, securities, crypto), feel free to contact us here.