By Our Reporter
The Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Foundation (SWEEP) has called on the government, corporate organizations, and citizens to recalibrate their lifestyles to promote environmental sustainability for a litter free world.
SWEEP made the call during the first anniversary of the “waste in the city” initiative, a community based recycling program funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation, in Lagos over the weekend.
The Foundation staged a waste and environmental awareness rally which held in Surulere, Lagos State, which brought together diverse stakeholders including environmentalists, collectors, aggregators, recyclers, media, volunteers, regulators, policy makers, associates, and friends, who came together to raise one voice against the environmental pollution and plastic waste situation in the country.
SWEEP is championing behavioural change in plastic waste management, having identified a lack of awareness by Nigerians as a contributing factor to the menace. With the rally the Foundation sought to reorientate Nigerians on the benefits of recycling plastic waste and the opportunity for revenue generation therein.
President of SWEEP Foundation, Obuesi Phillips, explained that behavioural change was crucial to sustainable plastic waste management which would result in more sustainable communities and improved quality of life for residents. He emphasized that there was no better time than now to take action against plastic pollution than now.
On the rally, Chairman, Surulere Local Government, Sulaiman Yusuf, represented by the Vice-Chairman, Muiz Dosunmu, commended SWEEP foundation for the initiative, and reassured of the council’s support for spreading recycling messages.
Yusuf said, “Waste in the City initiative, a Coca-Cola funded community-based recycling and implemented by the SWEEP Foundation has recorded significant success over the last one year in Surulere and continues to empower more and more people across the recycling value chain.
“So far, 120 recycling cages have been deployed across the Surulere community, impacting over 1,000 active recyclers, empowering over 100 youths and women and extracting over 60,000kg of plastic waste from the environment.”
He noted that the project is committed to addressing environmental and waste management issues through the provision of the needed recycling infrastruture and drop off zones, thereby helping consumers who have separated their waste from source to know how and where to recycle while getting financial benefits.
On the importance of the rally, the Director, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, challenged Nigerians to become more purposeful in handling recyclable materials and expressed the need for rapid behavioural change in communities.
She highlighted on the impact of the “Waste in the City” that the project has led to the deployment of 120 recycling receptacles, 5 tricycles, a collection and sorting hub in Surulere, Lagos State and the creation of job opportunities for over 100 youths and women directly while impacting over 1,000 residents of Surulere with financial benefits.
“We have seen a significant level of community participation and we are convinced that with the right recycling infrastructure and incentive, plastic pollution will soon be a thing of the past,” she said.
Also present at the rally were representatives from the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Lagos State Recyclers Association, and Recyclers Association of Nigeria.
