By Izuchukwu AHUCHAOGU
Under the searing afternoon sun, 14-year-old Aisha Aliu dribbles a football across a vibrant pitch in Agbara, Ogun State, a field that once smothered under mountains of plastic waste. This metamorphosis embodies Nestlé Nigeria’s audacious environmental gambit: achieving plastic neutrality while empowering forgotten communities.
The Scourge of Sachet Nation
Nigeria drowns in plastic. Lagos alone generates over 5,000 truckloads daily, with water sachets and food packaging choking drains and waterways. “This canal was a coffin for plastic,” gestures local waste picker Chinedu Nwankwo, pointing to a now-cleared waterway beside Nestlé’s Agbara factory. “When floods came, our homes became swimming pools of trash.”
The Circular Economy Revolution
In 2023, Nestlé Nigeria declared war on waste through Project W.A.S.T.E. (Wealth from Aggregated Sustainability & Environmental Transformation):
- 100% Plastic Recovery: Collecting & recycling every gram of packaging sold since 2023 – 28,000+ tons diverted from landfills.
- Grassroots Empowerment: Training 2,400+ waste pickers like Nwankwo in sorting safety, linking them to formal recycling markets.
- Infrastructure from Waste: Partnering with Green Habitat Initiative to compress PET bottles into bricks building schools and playgrounds.
“We don’t just offset – we transform,” declares Nestlé Nigeria CEO Wassim Elhusseini. “Every naira from recycled plastic flows back into these communities.”
Agbara’s Renaissance
The data sings:
▶︎ 12 plastic-built classrooms in Ogun & Kaduna states
▶︎ 8 flood-prone Lagos communities cleared
▶︎ 300% income increase for registered waste pickers
“My children now attend school built from sachets I collected,” beams Mama Nkechi, a Project W.A.S.T.E. collector in Agege. “Plastic paid their fees.”
The Road Ahead
Despite progress, challenges loom. Informal waste burning still fouls Lagos’ air, and policy gaps hinder scaling. Yet Nestlé’s partnership with LAWMA on micro-collection hubs signals hope . Next phase? Solar-powered community water stations – reducing sachet dependence.
In Nigeria’s waste war, Nestlé proves environmental sustainability isn’t charity – it’s smart economics. Where others see trash, they see classrooms, livelihoods, and a girl scoring goals on redeemed land.
