Chiemelie Ezeobi reports that Sahara Foundation, the CSR arm of Sahara Group, through its ‘Green Life’ initiative is promoting sustainable environment through recycling in local communities. Recently at Ijora, a suburb in Lagos, the foundation partnered WeCyclers to unveil a recycle hub in the community
Globally, plastic waste management is a critical issue that is needs proper management. According to reports, over 300 million metric tons of plastics are produced in the world annually.
For Nigeria some 32 million tonnes of waste are generated per year, of which 2.5 million tonnes are plastic waste. In Lagos alone, 9,000 tonnes of waste are generated daily with about 86 per cent of it plastic, consisting bottles and bags.
Despite that plastics are very suitable for reuse or recycling including production of blocks, new plastics or pallets for lock production, sadly, most of these end up in landfills, sewers, beaches and water bodies, thereby harming the Ecosystem.
These plastic wastes make up a significant proportion of solid wastes and litter the state, thus becoming a highly visible part of the waste stream (PET, Styrofoam and nylon commonly being used for water and beverages, take away plates and cups, carrier bags and others).
Consequences
Climate Change is one of the most pivotal issues of our time and we are at a critical point. Across the world, there are changes to our weather patterns that threaten humanity, food production, alarming rises in sea levels that pose the risk of life threatening and disastrous floods as well as soil erosion due to climate-induced flooding.
The menace of poor management of plastic waste that enters the environment is caused by open dumping, open burning, and disposal in waterways and even on the road.
Inevitably, these waste pose great dangers to the environment. The environmental challenges they pose include ocean and lagoon debris, Ecosystems degradation, drainage clogging and flooding.
Effort by Sahara Foundation
In 2020, Sahara Foundation- the corporate citizenship vehicle for Sahara Group revised its focus areas to two key pillars for all interventions going forward: Access to Energy and Promoting Sustainable Environments.
In an effort to bring this to fruition, the Sahara Foundation through the Green Life Project recently launched its recycle exchange hub in Ijora community. The Ijora Recycle Exchange Hub in partnership with WeCyclers, (a social enterprise which gives low-income communities in Nigeria a chance to capture value from waste and clean up their neighborhoods through incentive-based recycling).
The Green Life Initiative is one of the many Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability initiatives, which Sahara Group has undertaken for the 25 years it has been in business, impacting millions of beneficiaries directly and indirectly.
Creating Value from Waste
To achieve this, the foundation advocated for the waste to wealth initiative to rescue the environment from negative impacts of climate change as residents will be rewarded with cash or heath insurance in exchange for recyclable waste/ single use plastics.
According to Pearl Uzokwe, Director of Governance and Sustainability at Sahara Group, the project stems from the Sahara Group’s #GreenLife initiative launched in 2018 aimed at recycling to promote a circular economy, upcycling, sustainable training, recycling for health care and access to clean energy initiatives.
Uzokwe also mentioned that “At Sahara Group, we have commenced an extensive recycling programme at our various offices of operation to drive environmental protection. We will kick-off with the recycling of paper, plastic and aluminum. Our aim is to promote a circular economy aimed at minimising waste and making the most of our resources.
According to Project Manager, Wecyclers, Charles Eyonomue, the goal is essentially for sustainable plastic waste management to create value from the waste. This will formalise the waste-pickers’ sector to improve livelihoods and reduce the pressure on landfill. It will also help the drainage channels and reduce plastic pollution in the marine environment.
He said the recycle hub will serve the Ijora community to properly collect recyclable waste and ensure a sustainable environment for all as community members will be able to exchange their recyclables for benefits such as cash and health insurance.
For Oluseyi Ojurongbe, Sahara Foundation Manager, this initiative aligns with the foundation’s key pillar of ‘promoting suitable environments’ and has received immense support from the community. “We look forward to seeing this blossom. We are optimistic that this project will become a template for replicating other interventions across Africa. This is also a means to improve the livelihoods of the people. This initiative aligns with the foundation’s pillar of promoting suitable environments”.
Ijora Recycle Hub
Putting action to words, the foundation recently launched Ijora Recycle Exchange Hub in partnership with WeCyclers and Unilever. Ojurongbe said the Recycle Hub will provide the Ijora community, “where we have one of our offices, circular economy with an avenue to dispose recyclable waste. Community members can exchange their recyclables for benefits such as cash and health insurance amongst others.
“The hub would serve as a collection point where community members can get money or earn points to build towards health insurance in exchange for plastics and other relevant waste in their communities.
“Plastic, aluminum and paper waste collected from the center will be processed and recycled for other uses through We Cyclers. While we are tackling the environmental challenges caused by waste, we are also improving livelihoods through job creation and environmental sustainability”.
At the launch, the Ojora of Ijora and Iganmu Kingdom, Oba Dr. Abdulfatai Aremu Oyeyinka Aromire Oyegbemi The Second, represented by the Bashorun of Ijora and Iganmu Kingdom, High Chief Hakeem Bashorun Oyewole Ojora, expressed appreciation on behalf of His Royal Highness and people of Ijora on the gesture Sahara Foundation has extended to the community. He said this is coming at time when more emphasis needs to be paid to environmental pollution and also assured the management of Sahara that the facility would be put into good use.
