For years, access to safe drinking water has been a significant challenge for urban dwellers in Nigeria. UNICEF noted during the 2023 World Water Day that “about two-thirds of the nation’s population (133 million) do not have access to potable water.”
Consequently, many urban residents turn to packaged water in sachets known as ‘pure water’ or polyethylene terephthalate bottles (PET bottles). While these provide convenient access to safe water, the environmental cost is substantial. The non-degradable materials pose a threat to the environment when disposed of, contributing to litter, blockages in drainage systems, and ecological problems.
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Beyond waste disposal challenges, the issue extends to recycling, with about 90percent of the 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste generated annually in Nigeria left unrecycled.
The concept of a circular economy, emphasizing the reuse and regeneration of materials to sustain production in an environmentally-friendly way, has gained traction in recent years.
Worthy of emulation is the Circular Plastic Economy Innovation Hub (CPEIHub), an initiative driven by Co-Creation Hub (Cchub), a Lagos-based technology-oriented organization actively addressing the environmental impact of PET bottles and water pouches.
The project, which is being executed in partnership with the British Council, Pan-African University of Life and Earth Sciences Ibadan (PAULESI), and de Montfort University, Leicester, focuses on circular plastic economy initiatives in Nigeria.
The British Council’s Innovation for African Universities (IAU) program supports collaborative projects involving academics from PAULESI. The aim is to encourage waste-to-wealth opportunities, exploring ideas like converting waste plastic into 3D printer filaments. Local innovations from the project include an AI-trained drone for identifying waste plastics and the optimization of a prototype 3D Printer Filament Extruder.
Under the British Council funded IAU Consolidation Project Phase 2, Cchub has organised meetups to boost plastic and waste recycling in Nigeria.
The events involved roundtable conversations between stakeholders in the circular plastic economy, fostering collaboration amongst researchers, government, academia, industry players, and innovators. The focus is on scaling up and commercializing new innovations, especially from university-based innovation hubs.
Professor Muyiwa Oyinlola, a facilitator of the project and director of the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development at De Montfort University, emphasised the role of entrepreneurship education in supporting sustainable growth and employment.
The Circular Plastic Economy Innovation Hub is actively engaging students from Nigerian universities, encouraging their participation and fostering capacity-building to innovate solutions.
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This initiative aims to aggregate innovative research-based solutions from academia to reduce the impact of plastics and contribute to the waste-to-wealth value chain.
The CPEI Hub is set to host a GIA Forum in December, applying the triple helix approach by bringing stakeholders from Government, Industry and Academia together in Lagos State to encourage collaboration and the implementation of the next steps derived from the earlier roundtable discussions.
