Coca-Cola: We’ll work to collect and recycle 15% of our packaging in 2022

Coca-Cola Nigeria says it will enable the collection and recycling of 15 percent equivalent of its packaging from the Nigerian market in 2022.

Amaka Onyemelukwe, director, public affairs, communications and sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria, said this at a recent media briefing in Lagos.

Onyemelukwe said concerted efforts to stem the tide of environmental degradation has seen the company make huge investments in fostering industry collaboration, encouraging investments, and attracting international intervention, including funding.

To achieve the set target, she disclosed that the company, its bottling partners Nigerian Bottling Company and through funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, would increase investments to scale PET collection across the country and drive the required behavioural changes.

“We are aware that more investors have begun to have the confidence to invest in the setup of recycling plants to further drive positive action, which will be commissioned later in 2022,” she said.

“In 2021, over $1.1 million in grants were awarded to various NGO partners and social ventures to drive recycling initiatives in various communities. It’s our resolve to open up the sector for more participation, to attract counterpart funding from the international community. This is based on the prospects we see in the recycling sector that can produce thousands of jobs for the teeming population.”

She added that through funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation in partnership with a local NGO and a waste aggregator, a mini factory set up in Delta state for the conversion of PET bottles into strapping belts would be commissioned in the second quarter of 2022.

“It is expected that this will drive more positive actions as regards environmental sustainability,” Onyemelukwe said.

She further disclosed that Coca-Cola Nigeria and its partners are committed to implementing collection initiatives across communities.

The partners are known as the “Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance” (FBRA) is an industry partnership between Coca-Cola, Nigerian Bottling Company, Nestle Plc, 7UP Bottling Company and Nigerian Breweries. The coalition is working to build a sustainable economy for food and beverage packaging and has evolved to a 21-member championing environmental sustainability in the food and beverage sector.

She said through funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, the company would invest $2 million to scale up collection across the six geographical zones and drive behavioural change projects in 2022.

“Our goal is to achieve our 2030 ambitious goal of enabling 100% collection for every packaging we put on the market,” she added.

Onyemelukwe commended the government’s efforts and tasked them to provide more tax incentives for companies investing in recycling infrastructure to attract more investors while also introducing environmentally-friendly policies.

She also called on other citizens and corporate bodies to rise to the challenge of making the environment better by embracing behavioural change.