By Uthman Abubakar
In a groundbreaking initiative, four hundred and sixty women onboarded from 10 of the communities in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory have earned N4,221,660 by recycling plastic waste under the Reducing Marine Plastic Pollution Through Recycling project aimed at reducing plastic pollution in Wupa and Usuma rivers in Lugbe and Gwagwalada areas of the territory.
The communities: Chika, Aleyita, Pyakasa, Piwoyi, Karonmajigi, Gwako, New-Kutunku, Tunga-Maje, Angwan-Gabas and Lugbe.
The goal of the project is to reduce marine plastic pollution across the country through recycling by getting community participation in the source segregation and recovery of plastic waste and other recyclable materials and ensuring their reincorporation into the value chain system.
It aims also to promote behavioural change and empower members of the host communities through job creation and capacity-building programs. It subsequently aims to empower women and youths with self-paced employment.
The project achieved the feat across the 10 participating FCT communities by raising awareness of the waste-to-wealth opportunities in recycling among women in local communities, encouraging them to become local recyclers of plastic waste materials.
The project target was the establishment of 10 recycling clusters and two recycling hubs; empowerment of 500 women recyclers in 10 communities; empowerment of 100 local waste pickers and 15 waste aggregators; and the recovery and recycling of 468 tonnes of waste in the duration of its execution.
It also targeted 80 percent reduction in the volume of recyclable wastes littering drainage systems in the communities; visible reduction in public littering and an increase in the cleanliness of the communities; and increase in environmental awareness among members of the host communities.
A major outcome of the project was a shift in the attitudes of participants and communities towards waste management, enabling them to see waste as a resource.
Through the project, women and other recyclers were actively engaged in the source segregation and recovery of recyclable materials, particularly plastics, which they now see as a means of generating income.
The project achieved this result in the participating communities through group discussions and regular communication with the women, community sensitization to raise awareness of the hub operations, and stakeholder engagement to promote community participation in project activities.
The project sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grant Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was designed to squarely address the environmental pollution challenges posed by rapid urbanization and population growth in Nigeria, which has led to an increase in plastic consumption and the volume of plastic waste generated, thereby straining the existing waste management infrastructure for the proper collection and disposal of the waste.
Necessitating the project, according to the project implementor, Initiative for the Advancement of Waste Management in Africa (WASTE Africa), was the realization that with over 2.5 million tonnes of unmanaged plastic waste annually, Nigeria ranks among the top countries contributing to marine plastic pollution.
With Nigeria having a long coastline along the Atlantic Ocean, and with numerous rivers and waterways flowing into the ocean, the project expresses serious concern that unmanaged plastic wastes are carried by rainwater and drainage systems into these rivers and waterways and, ultimately, the ocean, causing marine plastic pollution.
To check the situation, the project, therefore, realized the crucial imperative of addressing the issue of marine plastic pollution in the country from the local to the national levels through community waste management initiatives, investment in the waste management and recycling sectors, and enforcement of policies and regulations aimed at reducing plastic use and recycling.
The project has realized that many cities and communities in Nigeria lack access to proper waste collection and disposal systems, resulting in improper disposal practices such as open dumping, littering in streets, drainage systems, waterways, and open burning of waste.
The project has also realized that a significant number of individuals and households in Nigeria rely on the informal waste sector, which lacks adequate facilities for the safe disposal and recycling of waste, leading to illegal dump sites in communities.
Also realized is a general lack of awareness and ingrained cultural practices among the public that promote improper waste disposal habits, leading to plastic pollution.
According to the project, the lack of efficient waste collection and disposal systems means that a significant amount of waste is not properly managed, ultimately ending up in landfills and the environment, causing public health and environmental hazards.
The success of the Reducing Marine Plastic Pollution Through Recycling project highlights the transformative power of grassroots initiatives. By empowering women and integrating waste management into local economies, the project has created a replicable model for addressing plastic pollution nationwide. As a first step towards broader impact, the project will be expanded to Lokogoma area of the FCT to engage and benefit more communities.
More details about the project can be found at https://wasteafrica.org/project-reports/