‘Waste recycling crucial to environmental preservation’

The Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) has said that recycling of waste, especially those of food and beverage packaging is vital in environmental preservation as the value chain in the recycling process leads to job and wealth creation.

The Vice Chairman of FBRA, Adekunle Olusuyi, who spoke at the 12th National Stakeholders’ Forum of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in Abuja with the theme, ‘Circular Economy and Environmental Governance’, said in a circular economy, proper waste management which involves different stages leads to job and wealth creation along the value chain.

Olusuyi noted that FBRA participation in the summit was in line with the Alliance’s commitment to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy of the government, to help build a sustainable, healthy environment that leads to business growth.

“We are looking at the entire packaging lifecycle, from how bottles and cans are designed and made, to how they are recycled and repurposed. We want to reduce the waste we generate as much as possible, encourage recycling, and our initiatives in this regard have been well tailored in achieving tangible results along with our partners,” he stated.

According to Olusuyi, a recent survey indicates that the volume of post-consumer PET waste is over 800,000 tonnes which require the participation of all stakeholders at the different stages to drive a robust circular economy.

In moving towards a circular economy, the Technical Lead, FBRA, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, who represented the chairman, Sade Morgan, pointed out that the Alliance will help improve recycling rates and apply the global marketing muscle of its members to help educate the public on what, how and where to recycle their food and beverage packaging waste.