By Obiabin Onukwugha
Nigeria generates 32 million metric tons of waste annually. Of this volume, 2.5 million tonnes are plastic waste, with an annual growth rate of 2.4% that is likely to increase on yearly bases. The World Bank estimates that each Nigerian generates 0.15kg waste daily and waste generation will increase to 107million tonnes by 2050.
This ordinarily should pose a great threat to the Nigerian environment, especially as these wastes are non-biodegradable. But many Nigerians now have now learnt the technology of transforming these wastes to wealth.
A few years ago, plastics and other waste pickers in Nigeria were overlooked and even called degrading names, but with the unemployment rate for Q3 2023 put at 5.0 percent by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), was has been able to put food on the tables of many and improve their social status and economic wellbeing.
By diverting plastic and cans from overflowing landfills, plastic waste collectors and recyclers are not only cleaning the environment but have become key actors in tackling plastic pollution, reducing land and water pollution and conserving the environment. The value chain has seen significant growth that has transformed most of the pickers to small and medium scale entrepreneurs
With this, mountains of plastic waste that once represented environmental degradation across several states in Nigeria are slowly but surely turning into a vibrant ecosystem.
It is estimated that if well managed, waste collection and recycling in Nigeria could create over 250,000 jobs by 2025.
It involves involves waste collection, sorting, processing into bales or flakes and recycling of these materials into resins or other
reusable materials, with each process creating a value of chain for employment and income generation.
Recently a young Nigerian Ike Chilaka was captured by the media because of his stride in turning waste to wealth.
Chilaka resigned from his superintendent engineer job to establish his business which recycles waste across dumps in the Lagos metropolis.
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His success story is that of vision and determination to become financially independent by solving plastic waste problems.
Chilaka it was gathered started off by collaborating with Kim his Korean friend, to establish a plastic manufacturing company before registering his own company in 2003. The engineer-turned-entrepreneur
was processing waste materials for industrial use for plastic manufacturing. Soon his innovative approach to the recycling business
began to attract a lot of manufacturers who now depended on his products for their raw materials.
With his engineering background, his companiy Antwork Services, went into producing equipment that could process that waste into another round of materials for further manufacturing purposes.
“With this experience, I started producing chips from grounded nylon, I would pick waste materials, wash them, grind them and then they are up for purchase from the manufacturers of the plastic industries all across the country,” he was quoted as saying.
Despite facing an initial challenge of funding and trusted personnel, Chilaka’s determination kept him going.
He described the recycling business space in Nigeria as a lucrative venture that offers huge economic opportunities for people to exploit. The engineer-turned-entrepreneur was processing waste materials for industrial use for plastic manufacturing.
With his engineering background, he went into producing equipment that could process that waste into another round of materials for further manufacturing purposes.
“With this experience, I started producing chips from grounded nylon, I would pick waste materials, wash them, grind them and then they are up for purchase from the manufacturers of the plastic industries all across the country,” he said.
The marine engineer said his initial challenge was funding. Besides inadequate capital, he also had a problem with getting honest employees.
Chilaka believes the Nigeria has great opportunity for creating wealth through recycling because of the volume of waste generated on daily
basis.
