The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded grants to the Africa Clean Up Initiative, pioneers of the Recycles Pay and Clean-Up Naija projects, to reduce wastes created by food and beverage packaging waste and other non-biodegradable substances in the environment.
This is in line with Coca-Cola’s commitment towards fostering a World Without Waste, a statement from the organisation, said.
The financial grants will help fund the expansion of the Recycles Pay project, which had immense success in the pilot phase, as well as the Clean Up Naija initiative.
The Recycles Pay is a program targeted at low-tuition schools, to enable parents pay their ward’s fees with plastic bottles.
The second project, Clean Up Naija, is community-led and will be carried out across multiple states in a bid to deliver a clean and healthy environment. The initiative seeks to get volunteers to help clean-up communities for a cleaner and more sustainable environment. African Clean Up Initiative, with the support of The Coca-Cola Foundation grant, targets 20 cleanup events across Nigeria within the calendar year.
Alexander Akhigbe, founder of the African Clean Up Initiative, thanked the Coca-Cola Foundation for awarding the grants ,saying it would be useful in increasing the organisation’s capacity to impact lives .
Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Manager Coca-Cola Nigeria, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, said the partnership between the foundation and the projects was “important for underserved communities – ensuring children from less privileged homes remain in school as well as identifying new ways to prevent plastic waste from littering our environment and entering our rivers and oceans.”
A beneficiary, Patience Onukwu, said the Recycles Pay program has given her and her kids a new lease of life.
