wecyclerseditor

by Ebube Okechukwu

Hundreds of volunteers and scores of residents came out in Ota, Ibadan and Lagos to clean the environment as part of an effort to drive a cleaner Nigeria and promote recycling. Clean9ja, which is an offshoot of #LetsCleanupLagos which started in 2015, is a response to the growing concerns of increase in waste and a further decrease in awareness creation about the benefits of a clean environment and on recycling. #Clean9ja campaign works to enlighten Nigerians on the importance of a clean environment and the benefits of recycling

The March clean9ja day is the fifth in the series of the campaign for a cleaner environment. The cleanup exercise which debuted in September, 2015 had the full support of global market leader in the logistics industry, DHL and insurance giants, Leadway Assurance. In attendance were several volunteers, community members, representative of organizations including Mrs. Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, Founder, Wecyclers; Boluwaji Oyewumi, Head of Business Development, Wecyclers; Babajide Fadoju, SA to the Governor of Oyo State on New Media; Irebami Taiwo; Gideon Olanrewaju, Executive Director, Areai; Members of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers in Ibadan, LAWMA, Oyo State Ministry of the Environment and the Oyo State Solid Waste Management Agency.

This months’ cleanup exercise which held in Ilashe Beach, Lagos; Akingbola Street, Bodija-Ibadan, Oyo state and Oju-Ore Area, Sango Ota, Ogun State brought together youths and community groups including the Global Shapers Ibadan served as a platform for networking and engagement on the overall benefits and the need to drive awareness on the importance of caring for the environment.

“Waste burden seems like an increasing problem globally, while we can decide to complain about this we felt there is also a part to play by creating awareness and driving the conversation on a clean Nigeria, this month we thought to do it better by taking it to other cities/states and also to a beach; Ilashe in Lagos” Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola said.

On Wecyclers role in promoting recycling Mrs Adebiyi-Abiola said; “We face a sobering waste crisis that will only worsen as population continues to soar. The government and its mercenaries have become overburdened and can only collect just a certain percentage of the daily waste produced.

People living in slum conditions without formal waste collection are subject to increased flooding, disease spread, and psychological stress that results from unmanaged trash heaps. Concurrently, recycling firms in Lagos face a supply constraint—they cannot access adequate supply of quality materials required for processing. One of the large recycling firms in the country is operating its factory at 50 to 60% below capacity. We recognized this and introduced our model which to a considerable extent solves the urban waste challenge for households and recyclers.

We motivate families to recycle plastic bottles, plastic sachets, and aluminum cans through our SMS-based incentive program. For every kilogram of material that families recycle with us, they receive redeemable Wecyclers’ points over their cell phones in return. Families can then redeem their points for goods that they value, such as cell phone minutes, basic food items, and household goods. Families receive collection reminders and rewards updates directly on their mobile phones making the benefits of recycling immediate.

The Cleanup day is one of the avenues we have created to promote recycling and as well drive the need to clean up our environment.”

In a recent report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the world’s oceans may have more plastic debris than fish by the year 2050. Currently, 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean each year – the equivalent of a dump truck of plastic rubbish every minute.

At current rates, that will have grown to two trucks a minute by 2030, and four a minute by 2050 – by which time, by weight, there will be as much plastic in the oceans as fish. There remains a huge need to drive awareness on a cleaner society and promote recycling.

Although the cleanup day is targeted at communities, hundreds of volunteers have embraced this initiative as an essential part of enlightening and participation for cleanliness in the society.

Speaking shortly after the exercise, Babajide Fadoju, “This for me and other volunteers is an opportunity to do something for the environment. We can do our part in a bid to help reduce the waste burden in Ibadan”.

For more information about what Wecyclers is doing or to arrange to interview, please email founders@wecyclers.com

In the course of most human activities substantial quantities of various wastes are generated. Now it is quite clear that such waste should be properly managed. Without appropriate waste management we would soon live on dumpsites and landfills than in our homes. The recent development in the suburbs of Beirut due to the city’s ongoing garbage crisis is a reminder. We only have to decide on whether we will recover, regenerate and reuse the waste otherwise disposed of, or not.

If, for instance, a plastic cup is discarded in mixed waste, such used packaging will lose not only any chance to be reused, but also its value. However, if household waste is properly sorted already at the household, particular waste items can be recycled and reused in the form of new, commonly applicable products.

Rubbish must be sorted at source in order for it to be recycled. 

The easiest way for waste sorting is at the point of origination, i.e., in your household at the end of the concerned item‘s service life as soon as you want to throw it away.  Simply, the packaging should be put into a basket, bag or box designed for the appropriate sorted waste type.

From experience it ensues that an average household mostly produces paper and plastic wastes. The largest spaces should therefore be reserved for putting the two waste types aside. Scrap glass should be best stored in plastic boxes. Many people put used beverage cartons in the same box or bag as used for used plastic packages leading to additional sorting at collecting containers (if not collected together).

Sorting rubbish

The following categories of rubbish can be sorted:

Glass: empty bottles and jars without cap or lid. In most municipalities, clear glass and coloured glass must be separated. New glass containers are made from the recycled glass. Warning: ceramics, tempered glass, pyrex or fireproof glass, mirrors, window panes and lightbulbs must not be included in the glass waste, but disposed of with bulky waste.

Paper and cardboard: newspapers, magazines, boxes and similar must be sufficiently clean to be recycled. Warning:  paper tissues, kitchen roll, stickers, juice boxes, carbon paper and wallpaper, dirty or grease paper and cellophane paper are not recyclable as paper and should be kept separately and disposed of in the regulation bag for non-sorted waste.

Plastic, Metal and Drink waste (PMD): packaging made of plastic or metal and drink cartons are used for recycling purposes to make new packaging, textile fibres, etc. Warning: butter wrappers, plastic pots (eg. yoghurt pots), packaging for hazardous and poisonous products, plastic bags and aluminum foil must not be included with the PMD waste. Put these in the regulation bag for non-sorted rubbish.

Organic waste: Greens (vegetables), fruit and garden waste, trimmings, grass and leaves are compostable. This waste can be collected at your home. It is also easy to compost it yourself for use in your garden.

Small hazardous waste or small chemical waste: syringes, fluorescent lamps, detergents, cosmetics, paint and varnish, used oil, pesticides and similar are harmful to the health and the environment. They need to be collected separately.

Reusable textiles: clothing, shoes, bed linen and similar are picked up at your home try to cultivate a habit of giving away used clothes in good condition to the less fortunate.

Discarded electrical and electronic appliances:  Refrigerators, televisions, computers, washing machines and similar can be handed in for free at the point of sales or at recycling plants.

– Culled from:

http://www.belgium.be/en/environment/sorting_and_recycling_household_waste#sthash.fBry5BEr.dpuf

http://www.kongsberg.kommune.no/Documents/tekniske%20tjenester/VAR/Renovasjon/150601_guide_ENG_web.pdf

http://ge.ch/dechets/media/dechets/files/fichiers/documents/Publications/sorting_household_waste.pdf

http://time.com/4235852/river-of-trash-beirut-suburbs

By Ajibola Ameerah

Over the last few years, food waste has not been of major concern. Most people do not bother about food waste because it eventually rots away. With more information at our disposal, Food waste is a growing area of concern with many costs to our community in terms of waste collection, disposal and greenhouse gases.

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted each year. Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa without forgetting that over 842 million people in the world do not have enough to eat.

When food rots, it creates methane (CH4) which has 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Every time food is wasted, it is not just only about the food. The water, energy, time, manpower, land, fertilizer, fuel, packaging and MONEY put into growing, preparing, storing, transporting, cooking the food is also wasted.

If food waste was a country, it would be the world’s 3^rd largest emitter of CO2.

Food waste can be generated from

• Spoiled or out of date food
• Peelings & trimmings
• Inedible by-products, e.g. bones, coffee grounds, tea leaves
• Kitchen error
• Plate waste

So, what do we do to reduce and properly manage our food waste

1. Shop wisely
2. Store food correctly
3. Use your freezer
4. Cook what you need
5. Use leftovers
6. Refuse and re-use packaging
7. Recycle waste
8. Compost food scraps
9. Finish all foods cooked
10. Grow your own food.

Lets do our part in helping our environment.