Mafalda de Freitas.
HPU Megaplastic Program Director at HPU’s Center for Marine Debris Research (CMDR) Mafalda de Freitas is contributing to a global conversation on how we can reimagine both waste and work in the face of environmental and economic challenges. Her research—at the intersection of ocean plastics, circular manufacturing, and community-based innovation—is featured in the newly published book The Future of Labour.
In Chapter 14, titled “Circular Material Flows, the Twin Transition of Manufacturing, and the Future of Labour,” de Freitas and her co-authors explore how circular economy principals and emerging technologies are reshaping the way we think about both waste and work, and present a powerful vision for a more inclusive, resilient, and ecologically rooted future.
At the heart of this vision is the concept of the “twin transition”: the convergence of the “green transition” (towards environmental sustainability and circularity) and the “digital transition” (driven by AI, robotics, and data). When combined, these two forces can unlock new opportunities for transforming waste into value—keeping materials, labour, and innovation local. As a case study, it highlights the Peniche Ocean Watch Initiative in Portugal, which de Freitas helped co-found. There, a community-based “microfactory” was established to repurpose discarded fishing nets—one of the most persistent and harmful forms of marine debris. Leveraging “Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing” (LSAM), a form of large-scale 3D printing, the initiative transformed these nets into recyclable products such as custom-designed furniture and maritime products.
“With these new digital technologies like LSAM, you don’t have to ship products halfway across the world,” de Freitas said. A designer in one country can send a print file digitally to a microfactory in another, and a product can be made locally, using local waste and local labour. It’s sustainable, scalable, and community-empowering.”
This model doesn’t just reduce emissions from global shipping—it creates local jobs, builds manufacturing capacity and community skills, and turns pollution into circular economic opportunities. It’s a triple win for communities, ecosystems, and economies. By “turning to nature,” as the chapter concludes, we can turn toward a more inclusive, resilient, and circular future for labour—one that stays rooted in place, people, and ecological balance.
HPU CMDR team members from left to right: Research Coordinator Colin Tolbert-Smith, HPU Master's in Marine Science student Harley Wahl, Project Manager Katie Stevens, and Megaplastics Program Director Mafalda de Freitas in front of the University's Plastic Recycling Research Facility.
At CMDR, de Freitas now helps lead efforts to apply similar thinking to Hawaiʻi’s marine debris crisis. At the Plastic Recycling Research Facility in Kalihi, the team explores ways to sort, recycle, and reuse derelict fishing gear that washes up across the archipelago. The long-term vision? Establishing a Hawaiʻi-based microfactory that could mirror the Peniche success— producing locally necessary products from marine waste and bolstering green jobs in the islands.
“Mafalda and her co-authors bring transformative ideas that perfectly align with CMDR’s mission and Hawaiʻi’s urgent need to protect both environment and economy,” said CMDR Co-Director and research faculty Jennifer Lynch, Ph.D. “At our current pace, it would take 500 years to remove the plastics already floating in the North Pacific Garbage Patch—the main source of debris harming reefs, beaches, wildlife, navigation, and waste systems. We must accelerate removal, prevent new inputs from foreign fishing fleets, and create durable recycled products that are truly ‘Made in Hawaiʻi and Stay in Hawaiʻi.’”
According to Lynch, CMDR is committed to training a local workforce and driving innovations that benefit Hawaiʻiʻs islands and ocean. She noted de Freitas’ expertise and passion are instrumental in guiding this work.
Mafalda de Freitas, a marine biologist and environmental scientist, is the Megaplastics Program Director at Hawaiʻi Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research (CMDR), where she leads the establishment of the Plastic Recycling Research Facility. Prior to joining CMDR, she served as Director of Peniche Ocean Watch in Portugal. She has also taught science, biology, chemistry, and physics at Futuraskolan AB in Sweden. De Freitas earned a B.Sc. in Marine Biology (Honors) from the University of St. Andrew’s, a masterʻs degree in Museology and Museography (Distinction) from the University of Lisbon, and a M.Sc. Zoophysiology from Aarhus University in Denmark.
