• 06 Jun, 23
• by Admin
• in Climate Change
• 0
• 0

FBRA, LAWMA, OTHERS JOIN FORCES TO RID LAGOS OF WASTES

Like every other country, Nigeria’s waste collectors with support from organisations like Nestle are providing solutions by picking them and also making a living from them. These wastes include packaging materials like water sachets and plastic bottles among others.

According to a 2018 report by the United Nations, 11.2 billion tons of solid waste is collected every year, contributing to about per cent of global greenhouse emissions.

The World Bank, also in 2018, reported that without swift action, global waste will rise by 7 per cent on current levels by 2050.

With these scary figures, countries including Nigeria are working towards tackling the challenge by reducing, reusing and recycling them, making waste generation and management as sustainable as possible.

In Nigeria, the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, FBRA, are partnering with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and the Lagos State Recyclers Association (LAGRA) to tackle the problem.

The Alliance, with a current membership of 28 organisations, was established in 2018 as the industry-coalition Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) for enhancing the collection and recovery of post-consumer packaging material in the Food and Beverage sector.

Within the last four years, the Alliance in partnership with stakeholders in the waste value chain in Lagos state has impacted over 50 communities to educate and create awareness on recycling, facilitated the training of 3,000 waste pickers and has supported the collection of over 25,000 metric tonnes of recyclables for recovery to productive use through a partnership with over 12 packaging waste aggregators.

FBRA has also partnered with several NGOs to educate children in schools on the need for responsible disposal including recycling and has provided 75 recycling collection giant bins in schools, public spaces, and communities.

The focus is for Alliance member companies to contribute funds to support the waste management operations of the waste ecosystem through the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the packaging sector.
Speaking at the third anniversary of the Lagos Recycling Initiative, the Executive Secretary of the Alliance, Onaghise Agharese emphasised the importance of source segregation atthe point of generation within homes and organisations to enhance the quality of the recyclables harvested.
She also emphasised the need for collaborative efforts of all relevant stakeholders to implement an effective waste management system whilst pledging the commitment of the Alliance member companies to support more projects.
The MD of LAWMA, Ibrahim Odumboni also called on Food and Beverage organisations to join the efforts of the Alliance and informed all that the Agency is set to implement the Adopt the Bin Initiative where all households are expected to use the blue recycling bins to sort their waste, call for pick-up through PAKAM app and a LAGRA member in their vicinity will pick up their recyclables for an incentive. Dr. Femi Idowu Adegoke, the Chairman of the Lagos Recyclers Association (LAGRA) encouraged all to join the ZerWastete campaign through continuous public education, attitudinal and behavioural change towards minimizing (reducing), reusing, recovering, repurposing (upcycling and downcycling) and recycling for an efficient and sustainable circular economy in Lagos.
He also provided a commitment that its members under Lagos Recyclers Association LAGRA are available toff-take recyclables for all households who have to segregate their waste and books for collection through the PAKAM App.

PAKAM App is a technology application that can be downloaded from the m play store that connects households to collectors nearest to them to enable them to trade in their separated waste for incentives or cash. FBRA hereby encourages residents of Lagos state to adopt waste separation from source and recycling thereby earning rewards and incentives from recycling through the PAKAM App for a cleaner Lagos and a better planet for us all.

SOURCE: Vanguard News