Some waste management experts have renewed calls on Nigerians, particularly youths, to see plastic wastes as a means of wealth creation, as they can easily be sourced within their environment.
The experts made the call on Wednesday, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos.
They added that sustainable plastic waste management of non-degradable wastes will not only create wealth and employment, but also make the environment healthier by combating pollution.
The experts included, Mr Alexander Akhigbe, Chief Executive Officer, African Clean-Up Initiative, and Mr Taiwo Adewole, Executive Director, Recycle Points.
Adewole said apart from the lack of awareness of the benefits of recycling plastic wastes, another major challenge was the logistics for collections.
“Many people get discouraged after sorting their wastes and have to go far, spend money on transportation to drop off their recyclables,” he said.
Adewole said his organisation came up with the Drop Off Recycle Initiative (DORI) bin, where people can drop off their recyclables within their communities.
“We pick five women in each community, empower and give them the special bin where people within the community can easily drop off their recyclables and get incentives.
“We collect PET bottles, water sachets, nylons, cans, glass, aluminium and cartons. We also collect from scavengers, who we call aggregators. They collect in large numbers because they go out everyday with their carts and pick whatever they see.
“Once they gather their recyclables and reach out to us, we give them the recycle bin and collect their recyclables. For 1,000 kg of plastics they get N20,000 Naira,” he said.
To Akhigbe, raising awareness of the dangers and benefits of recycling plastic wastes will impact positively on the environment.
Akhigbe, whose organisation focuses on environmental sustainability, said the organisation had carried out different projects in low-income communities.
He said the organisation’s ‘RecyclesPay Educational Project’ had helped some parents pay their children’s school fees.
“We collect water sachets, PET bottles, from parents in exchange for the fees. We have a working relationship with the schools and the fees are paid directly to the schools.
“We also have packages like ‘Bottles for Pads’ and ‘Bottles for Diapers’ initiative.
“We’ve seen situations where some of them use tissues and cloths for their periods and mothers who have babies but no money to buy diapers use cloths that are not hygienic for their children.
“So all they need to do is gather the recyclables and we give them pads or diapers in exchange,” he said.
In addition, Akhigbe said that the organisation also ran a ‘Trash for Health’ initiative where people are encouraged to use their recyclables to access health services.
“This project is run across Nigeria and we have about 600 hospitals working with us on this project,” he said.
NAN quotes Mr Tunji Bello, Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, as explaining that plastic waste materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, Styrofoam, nylon, take-away plates and cups, were negatively impacting on health and environment.
Bello said that the wastes caused ecosystem degradation, drainage clogging and flooding, lagoon and ocean debris, resulting in high socioeconomic impacts on the state.
