APM Terminals Apapa cuts plastic waste by over 400,000 bottles yearly

APM Terminals Apapa, Nigeria’s largest container terminal, said it has reduced plastic waste at the Lagos Port by over 400,000 bottles annually.

The company disclosed this while observing the 2021 annual Go Green Initiative held from October 25 to 30, 2021. Go Green is an awareness-building programme initiated by the Global Ports Group (GPG), an association of port and terminal operators, collaborating on key Environmental, Health, Safety, and Security topics.

According to the company, the focus this year is on reducing the plastic footprint within the terminal by replacing single-use plastic bottled water with re-fill bottles and water dispensers, thereby eliminating an annual waste of 408,800 single-use plastic bottles.

“At APM Terminals, we take our responsibility towards the environment, community, the future and our kids very seriously. Every year, we give ourselves an opportunity to contribute with our ‘Go Green Campaign’. This is our chance to give back and reduce our impact on the environment. We owe that to ourselves, to our kids, and to the future,” Klaus Laursen, country manager of APM Terminals Nigeria, said.

Chinyere Adenaike, procurement manager of APM Terminals Apapa, said the company ensures that employees drink clean water without further harm to the environment.

“Our employees consume 1,120 units of plastic bottled water daily. That is a massive churn out from a single community of workers. We may not be able to change how the outer world creates environmental pollution caused by plastic waste but we definitely resolve not to contribute to that any longer,” she said.

Adenaike said that water dispensers have been placed all over the terminal to drastically cut down waste generated from single-use plastic water bottles.

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She added that the company also distributed 1,300 branded refill bottles to employees and contractors working at the terminal, enabling them to refill their bottles from the dispensers.

Gbenga Odeyemi of the Operation Labour Management Unit said the replacement of bottled water with dispenser water has helped in reducing plastic waste at the terminal.

“The problem of picking empty bottled water around the terminal has been eliminated or perhaps limited because we cannot eliminate waste like that but we can limit it,” he said.

Okon Anthony, mobile equipment supervisor, also commended the initiative, which he said would contribute to reducing plastic wastes at the port.

APM Terminals Apapa has remained committed to the ‘Go Green campaign’ since it was launched six years ago. In 2018, the staff removed plastic wastes from Ogogoro Island – a riverine community in Lagos, while in 2019, it cleared heaps of refuse on Apapa-Wharf Road in partnership with the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), and donated waste bins.