Trashure Island - a proposal for a circular economy in Tropicana

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Author: Students Masterclass The Circular Economy

New strategies such as the Blue Economy (Gunter Pauli) and Sustainism (Michael Schwarz and Diana Krabbendam) propose solutions to ecological, economic and social crises. These movements see local materials (waste products, local communities & expertise) as valuable assets, transforming linear processes into circular processes and valuing long-term performance over short-term gain. What are working business models for such reorganisations?

Tropicana, from a dream in decay to an opportunity for change

During the past century, most cities have become agglomerations of monofunctional districts which are basically disconnected from each other. Residential neighbourhoods, industrial estates, office complexes, farming districts and recreational areas are spatially delimited by administrative boundaries, making it harder to make good use of their mutual presence. The ever-increasing flow of goods, energy, water, food and even capital is disconnected form the location where these are created, contributing to endless transportation, traffic congestion, waste of energy and pollution. In a special master class at the WdKA Redesigning Business event (november 2014), an interdisciplinary group of students sought ways to promote the exchange between such existing flows by making smart new connections; the main requirement of an ecosystem. The host of this master class was Rotterzwam, a local mushroom farming business which grows mushrooms on left-over coffee grounds. Their working business case was we used as a starting point for a proposal in which a former sub-tropical swimming paradise is turned into a centre for innovation: sustainable, connecting and regenerative.

Tropicana, a true aquatic paradise

The masterclass took place in Tropicana, an iconic building on the river Maas in Rotterdam that was build in 1988. It was a promise of a tropical experience, a true aquatic paradise. Due to lack of maintenance and plans to redevelop it into an eventhall Tropicana closed it's doors in the summer of 2010. Due to bankruptcy in 2011 this redevelopment never happened and the building became a dream in decay. At the moment though, smaller but maybe also more interesting developments are heppening there. It now serves as a temporary location for various businesses including a restaurant and a bar as well as facilities for roasting coffee and farming oyster mushrooms on left-over coffee grounds. Can this landmark become a metaphor for new ways of thinking, sharing, working and relaxing, with an important focus on recycling as well as research into flows of goods, energy, water, food and even capital? Can we make smart connections between local surpluses, shortages and bottlenecks, thus creating new functions and business cases for Tropicana?


From a sub-tropical paradise to a dream in decay


Trashure island

The city of Rotterdam has high ambitions regarding sustainability sustainability. Why not use Tropicana as a building that represents sustainable development and give the building the iconic status back?! Tropicana could become 'Trashure Island', an island which will share and show sustainable ideas, mainly focussing on how to reuse waste flows. This creates a circular economy. It will be an ecosystem consisting of a lab and a knowledge centre where local people can learn by doing and where innovation and experiments can take place. This way the mindset of people can be changed and will be a new kind of educating. This results in BIY: a Blue it yourself- economy. The waste flows of the the poppodium, which will soon be in the building, and the restaurant will also be a part of the circular ecosystem. This way, waste flows, trash and unemployed people become the new gold. Trash becomes treasure again. It is an innovative way of creating awareness for sustainability for the people of Rotterdam and eventually for the rest of the world. This way, people can be introduced to the blue economy in an innovative way of education, as explained further in our presentation (video & images) and case study in which we present Treasure Beer; a new beer brand, that could be consumed as well produced in Tropicana (see video advertorial).

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This schedule shows how the ecosystem functions and which flows are a part of this system. It consists of a natural and a social flow. The natural flow has an input existing of waste, sunlight, water and air. These flows enter the system and transform into products, made by different stakeholders. These stakeholders can benefit from each other’s products, waste and rest flows. In this way, a circular ecosystem emerges. The social circle shows how people asinput, create knowledge and experience. The people that participate in the system transform energy into value. This value is very important for the social system of Rotterdam and can eventually reach the rest of the world. The value here is global knowledge, local awareness, and social prosperity trough sustainable thinking.

Trashure Island profits from natural sources such as the sun, rain and water of the Maas that provide the building of energy and heat and regulates the temperature.

Flows of production; The leftovers of the restaurant can be recycled in the lab of Trashure Island and recreated to new products. The time and effort that will be invested in the building will make it possible to produce knowledge for the workers and visitors. This information and knowledge can be passed on to other people and so on.

The restaurant provides waist, urine (from which valuable phosphor can be harvested) and thermic for the lab. The poppodium provides energy and CO2. The dance floor of the Poppodium provides electricity that we use for production in the lab.

The lab provides the restaurant and poppodium of visitors, oxygen, food, drinks and energy.

Trashure Island generates food, drinks, compost, biogas (for cars) and knowledge for the people. Money is generated when visitors who pay an entrance fee and when what is produced is sold to small businesses and individuals.


The participating students cam from: Bouwkunde minor dIB, Minor social practices WdKA and Cultural Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

This masterclass was hosted and guided by Rotterzwam, organised by Floris Schiferli (Superuse Studios Rotterdam) and located in Tropicana, Maasboulevard 100, Rotterdam.

With special thanks to: Mark Slegers & all co-workers of Rotterzwam (host and inspirator), Rechtstreex (for the lovely local lunch), Norbert Bol (Director of Grondmij capital invest), Mark Bode (Business Station WDKA), Hans Huurman (gemeente Rotterdam), Dave Geensen, (poppodium Rotterdam).