Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
Recycling
By Donald Ugwu
Abuja, June 5, 2018 (NAN) Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday requested foreign consumer goods giants operating in the country to maintain the global policy on plastics recycling in the country to eliminate indiscriminate disposal of the synthetic material.
The Vice President gave the advice during the 2018 World Environment Day celebration with the theme: “Beat Plastic Pollution in Abuja’’.
Osinbajo noted that Coca Cola had committed to collecting and recycling the equivalent of all drink containers and chips every year, amounting to about 110 billion plastic bottles, while other consumer goods giants had begun to utilise more recycled plastics.
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“It is my view that for controlling the proliferation of plastic sachets, we must go back to the major producers of fast foods and goods to put in place recycling programmes that could effectively ensure that while we seek environmentally friendly options for packaging, we are keeping the environment as free of plastics as possible.’’
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Plastics are extremely versatile synthetic materials made from the polymerization of organic compounds and which can be molded into shapes or fabricated in many different forms for use in commerce and industry.
The vice president noted that the country was in a good position to lead Africa and the rest of the world in beating plastic pollution.
He added that there was no need to re-invent the wheel as there were effective initiatives being considered in policy formulation.
According to him, aside from the responsibilities of government there are also corporate and individual responsibilities.
“We can beat the plastics pollution, we can beat this epidemic but certainly we will achieve our objectives much faster if all work together,’’ he said.
Plastic pollution
He said the focus should be on solutions to plastic pollution which had become an environmental epidemic created daily by the consumption and use of plastics, plastic bags and bottles, sweet wrappers and toys.
He said that scientists had said that such plastics would take between 500 years and 1,000 years to degrade noting that much of un-recycled plastics were in excess of 4.5 billion tons and a lot ended up in the oceans.
Algae is seen growing on a water bottle that washed ashore from the Atlantic ocean.
He stated that the cost to fisheries, tourism and biodiversity was much and that government had tried to remain ahead in planning, policy and reform.
“The ministry of Environment in collaboration with stakeholders has developed a national strategy for the phasing out of non-biodegradable plastics.
“The ministry is also developing a national plastic waste recycling programme involving the establishment of waste recycling plants across the country in partnership with state governments.
“A total of eight plants have already been completed and handed over to the states while 18 others are at various stages of completion,’’ he said.
Osinbajo added that the Federal Government was partnering state governments to establish waste recycling plants under the community-based waste management programme in the ministry.
He explained that two of such plants had been completed in Ilorin, Kwara, one in Lokoja, Kogi, while one was ongoing in Karu, Nasarawa State.
The Vice President also highlighted the marketing options for cheap packaging of foods and drinks where consumers were relatively poor.
“The micro-marketing methods of fast moving consumer goods such as drinking water in sachets and the retailing of detergents, sugar and milk in sachets have been an effective means of selling these foods and beverages in affordable potions to millions of consumers.
“Sale of items in cellophane bags may be easier to deal with; Uganda, Kenya and Bangladesh amongst others have banned the use of cellophane bags with considerable success,’’ he noted.
Against the backdrop of the Day, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has spoken of the need to take action against plastic pollution in Africa.
It said in a statement signed by its Communication Officer, Climate Change and Green Growth Department, Mrs Sonia Borrini in Abuja that it would celebrate the World Environment Day (WED) 2018, and the World Ocean Day (WOD) by raising awareness by engaging key partners.
“Every year, 500 billion plastic bags are used around the world, 13 million tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean and 17 million barrels of oil are used on plastic production.
“About 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastics and 83 per cent of tap water are found to contain plastic particles.
“This is alarming and dangerous to the environment.
“In particular, it is impacting the ocean, which is the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe, major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere,’’ AfDB said. (NAN)
DCU/DOR/YEE
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Edited by Nyisom Dore/Emmanuel Yashim