Recently national environmental standard and regulation enforcement agency gather stakeholders to brain storm on the issue of recycling waste and plastic, HELEN OJI examines the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance on what they have done on recycling in Nigeria.
Background
The Alliance was established in line with NESREA’s green light for companies to work collaboratively on sectorial basis to promote and execute organized waste collection and recycling in Nigeria. Our strategic action plan includes public Advocacy campaign, school outreach, Technology and innovation, Recycling, Artisanship and adaptive reuse, marine drainage, recovery and buyback scheme.
The Technical Lead, FBRA, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, who represented the Chairman, Sade Morgan pointed out that the Alliance, as a PRO, will help improve recycling rates and apply the global marketing muscle of its members to help educate the public on what, how and where to recycle their food and beverage packaging waste.
The Alliance will continue to partner with local communities, non-government organisations (NGOs), industry peers and consumers to help make recycling easier and more accessible for everyone by improving collection systems, local recycling systems and driving policy change that supports a truly circular economy.
“As part of FBRA ambitious goal towards a cleaner environment, it has concluded plans to clean up the waterways in collaboration with its partner, Recycle Points and the Ministries of Transportation as well as Environment in Lagos state, she said.
Onyemelukwe added that with an estimated annual growth rate of 2.6 percent in Nigeria, there is increase in the level of consumption which has translated to rise in the volume of waste generation that needs to be well tackled; hence FBRA has been embarking on various initiatives towards a cleaner environment.
According to the vice chairman of Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, Mr. Kunle Olusuyi, We have been participating for several years and we are the major sponsor of this stakeholders meeting because of the strategic importance of NESREA to us. As you know FBRA with the waste, we generate and NESREA is the major enforcement agency and of course we have to collaborate so that we have a lot working relationship and this workshop has done that.
“The stakeholder meeting is very important is another way of getting back to the society and it shows how responsible we are as an organisation and in this forum a lot of people came from different sector. It is also an opportunity to interact with colleagues, share ideas, experiences and move forward, with the function of cleaning the environment and making the environment greener.
Circular economic and environment governance
Specifically, the circular economic is the song going on now in the world, we want to reduce waste as much as possible, the little waste we generate we recycle it, reuse and the environment will be better for us. In FBRA we have a similar platform and we have a lot of programmes and activities we have been anchoring for past three years aimed at reducing the wastage in our environment that is our primary responsibility to ensure that the environment is not litter with waste and as an organisation when you reduce, you make more profit. That is one of the important reason we are in this conference. We also work with the government with the particular aim of ensuring that we completely reduce waste in the society.
“The stakeholders’ forum, which had the theme, Circular Economy and Environmental Governance, provided a platform for an in-depth discussion and array of issues focusing on Circular Economy and Environmental Governance, as well as critical factor in attaining sustainable development in the national development plan.
Recycling plan
“In FBRA we major in plastic if you want to recycle this waste, what volume do you have? I did some survey just some months back and I find out that the quantity of waste that we have in plastic is over 800,000 tonnes that we generate every year. Now what is the capacity of a recycling plant, the capacity of a recycling plant will determine the number of plastic you are going to recycle. You have to look at the location of the waste and you look at it geographically, south west, North east and all of that. You can have a recycling plant that will take care of the big one. You can have the small one that can also take of the small ones,” he stressed.
“We are looking at the entire packaging lifecycle – from how bottles and cans are designed and made, to how they are recycled and repurposed. We want to reduce the waste we generate as much as possible, encourage recycling, and our initiatives in this regard has been well tailored in achieving tangible results along with our partners,” he stated.
It also enabled stakeholders highlight waste-to-wealth initiatives, review progress in the implementation of the EPR programme, strengthen policies and regulations to enable the recycling of food grade packaging waste materials by establishing a national standards for recycled PET and determine how Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO) can support in waste management for a healthy environment, recycling roles, among others.
Partnership with government, agency
FBRA is in the forefront we started these and for the past couple of years, we are properly registered and we have about three PRO, five companies and about ten companies are waiting to join because the Food and beverage recycling sector of the Nigeria economic is very large, we except many of them to come on board with respect to formation of the organization and legal backing of NESREA, we have had a lot of working agreement with other organizations and we had one with the Lagos state government were had to clear the water ways and it involves millions were we had to get personnel’s and boats to clear the water ways.
“We are in partnership with LAFGE a company recycling plastic, were we had to deliver about 10,000 tonnes of plastic every month which we map out from the environment and which we take their for recycling. We have cleaning exercises that we did within Lagos state were we go to bodies, market and pick plastic and waste to recycle, a quiet a lot we are a responsible and we are determine for more than seven years until recently.
Public awareness
“There should be an enable environment and the attitude of the people in the society. Recycle of pet requires a lot of money several millions and pounds. We need the government to support us and public enlightenment that people are now recycling this product mine how you abuse that it can be used for proper packaging. Most of the technology are imported government has to come in support us because all over the world they are going green so we have to go green.
“The various roles in waste management starts from waste separation, collection which our partner, Recycle Points takes care of, to separation, transportation, shredding at the recycling plants, production of other products and re-use. At these stages, different jobs are created, whether directly or indirectly,” Olusuyi explained.
He therefore urged other companies in the food and beverage sector, to be part of the Alliance which has sworn in its resolve to protect the environment and help make the world packaging problem a thing of the past.
