Environmentalists have continued to lament the high level of waste in the country and the subsequent need to address it. Now, more than ever, there is the urgent need for proper collection and recycling of used packages and containers littering the drainages and waterways if one must build a sane environment.
Statistics reveal that about 42 million tons of wastes are generated annually in Nigeria. This is more than half of 62 million tons of wastes generated in Sub-Saharan Africa annually. Lagos state has a per capita waste generation of 0.5kg per day with over 10,000 tons of urban waste generated daily. This has brought about the major challenge of how and where to properly dispose of these wastes. The lack of adequate disposal of packaging materials has created an environment filled with blocked sewers and drainage networks.
It would really excite environmental campaigners that the Nigerian food and beverage industry has set up an industry cohesion group called The Food and Beverage Alliance (FBRA) that is now ready to follow up laid down goals with actions. The initiative behind the collaboration was centered on the need to improve waste collection and recycling in Nigeria. The FBRA was set up in 2013 beginning with four industry members. They include The Nigerian Bottling Company (Coca-Cola), Nestle Plc, 7up Bottling Company (7UP), and Nigeria Breweries. The membership of the alliance has now risen to over sixteen members.
Agharese Lucia, the Executive Secretary of the FBRA, disclosed that the industry has created three areas of focus which include collection and recovery of the post-consumption package materials, community awareness, engagement as well as involvement with government and policymakers. Lucia stated that the group has collaborated with collection partners. The partners will be provided with subsidies to collect materials from the environment. This has recorded success with the collection of over 4800 metric tons of plastic waste. Also, most citizens are not aware of the usefulness of waste materials which leads to the second focus area. Citizens need to be educated on the proper mode for waste disposal. Lucia disclosed that about 30 communities have been enlightened by the FBRA with indigenous collector members assigned to the area.
‘Policy is very critical, and policy is a key driver for environmental sustainability,’ Lucia disclosed while speaking on the FBRA’s focus area. ‘If there’s a policy that creates an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, a policy that creates opportunities for investors to come in, then environmental sustainability in Nigeria can be enhanced,’ the FBRA Executive Secetary noted.
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The group hopes to help drive the direct achievement of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) such as Climate Change (Goal 13), contributing to the development of Sustainable Cities (Goal 11), and enhancing Life above Water (13) and Life below water (14). It will also indirectly contribute to reducing poverty by empowering more hands in the recycling enterprise (Goal 8), improving the health and well-being of residents by providing less polluted living and working spaces (Goal 3), as well as bringing about a robust and visionary partnership to achieve the Sustainable Goals (Goal 17), amongst others.
So far, FBRA has recycled over 1 billion bottles into fiber, with the creation of about 1800 direct employment on an average income of $6 per day. Also, this has led to the creation of synthetic fiber for local industries and export. As the initiative expands to every area, the nation will be able to entrench effective waste management and recycling overtime.
