The rapid growth of tourism, with more people consuming more resources, often means trouble in paradise. But the Maldives, one of the world’s tropical beauty spots, stand out positively in keeping marine litter from choking its surfing and diving waters. Truly Green, an entrepreneurial start-up dedicated to fighting pollution in the island chain, said it has taken delivery of 60,000 large biohybrid waste management bags manufactured by Australian renewable packaging products manufacturer Cardia Bioplastics (Melbourne; www.cardiabioplastics.com). Over the next 12 months, the company said it will order around 1m additional bags.

Following the Maldives Environmental Protection Agency’s recent approval of the bags made of non-GMO starch-derived thermoplastics blended with polyolefins as a preferred product, Cardia will establish a supply chain into the country. Further expansion across other product lines is expected.

Richard Tegroni, chairman of Cardia Bioplastics, said the company is continuing to see growth in global demand for its bags, as the market “is really starting to change.” The biohybrid bags are benefiting from the expansion of production capacity, he added.