The Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), recently partnered with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and the Lagos State Recyclers Association (LAGRA) to celebrate the third anniversary of the Lagos Recycling Initiative.
The Alliance, with current membership of 28 organizations, 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 fifty communities to educate and create
awareness on recycling, facilitated the training of 3,000 waste pickers and has supported
the collection of over 25,000MT of recyclables for recovery to productive use through
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 have 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 the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the packaging sector.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the Alliance, Onaghise Agharese
emphasised the importance of source segregation at 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 made a call out to all 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 IdowuAdegoke, the Chairman, Lagos Recyclers Association (LAGRA) encouraged all to join the
Zero waste 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 to offtake recyclables for all households who have segregated its waste and
books for collection through the PAKAM app.
PAKAM App is a technology application that can be downloaded from play store that connects households to collectors nearest
to them to enable them trade in their separated waste for incentive or cash.
FBRA hereby encourages residents of Lagos state to adopt waste separation from source
and recycling there by earning rewards and incentive from recycling through the PAKAM
App for a cleaner Lagos and a better planet for us all.
