The World Environment Day is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for awareness and action for the protection of the environment. Over the years, the celebration marked every year on June 5th, has come to serve as a global platform for public outreach and deep reflection focused on the challenges of the environment, growing annually with participation from over 143 countries.
The Coca-Cola System, on its part, has committed to reduce waste by helping to collect the same amount of packaging it sells for reuse, help communities identify and better understand their existing recycling and collection challenges; and motivate consumers to recycle their packages.
In line with this vision, employees of Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited decided to lead by example by collecting used plastic/PET bottles on a weekly basis from their homes and neighborhoods, depositing same to a designated collection center created at the company’s official car parking lot, from where program partners, RecyclePoint, would evacuate for onward processing.
The modest initiative began with just a few bottles and cans collected monthly, but then began to gain traction as associate volunteers from the CokeCARES team began to drive active collection and participation in the initiative. This drew the attention of onlookers and community bystanders who curiously enquired to know more about the plastic collections and recycling activities. This provided an opportunity for proper but timely education on the importance of the careful management and responsible disposal of post-consumer waste, especially PET.
That was the turning point.
Leading this year’s collection drive, Abidemi Salau, a widowed mother of three, has since January, single handedly collected over 1 ton of PET bottles and other recyclables. In her words she said, “I am happy that the small proceeds I get from this supports me and my family and this is my little way of contributing to a cleaner environment”.
In her closing remarks, the Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Manager for Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, in a statement expressed gratitude to these unsung heroes and reflected on the journey to a more sustainable world. “On days like this, it’s important to not only reflect on the decadence of our environment but to be reminded of the responsibility that we all have in making the world cleaner, safer and more sustainable”, she remarked.
So far, a total of 8,474kg of recyclables have been collected from the immediate environment and repurposed for other uses.
