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World Environment Day: Coca-Cola Continues To Lead Plastic Recovery And Recycling Efforts Across Nigeria
As the world celebrates World Environment Day, the Coca-Cola System in Nigeria comprising Coca-Cola Nigeria and its bottling partner, Nigerian Bottling Company, reaffirms its commitment to making the country and the world a more sustainable place by supporting plastic recycling and other key environmental protection initiatives to help create a world without waste.
World Environment Day was founded by the United Nations Environment to promote worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.
The theme for World Environment Day 2020 is, ‘Time for Nature,’ with a focus on its role in providing the essential infrastructure that supports life on earth and human development.
It would be recalled that in January 2018, the Company launched a global goal to fundamentally reshape its approach to packaging through its World Without Waste initiative.
This initiative aims to help collect and recycle the equivalent of 100% of its packaging by 2030.
This year’s World Environment Day theme, ‘Time for Nature’, rightly ties into the ambitious goal that Coca-Cola set for itself since 2018 and its efforts in investing in the planet and its packaging towards environmental protection.
The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners are pursuing several key goals:
- Investing in the planet: By 2030, for every bottle or can the Coca-Cola System sells, we aim to help take one back so it has more than one life. The Company is investing its marketing dollars and skills behind this 100% collection goal to help people understand what, how and where to recycle. We will support the collection of packaging across the industry, including bottles and cans from other companies. The Coca-Cola system is working with local communities, industry partners, our customers, and consumers to help address issues like packaging litter and marine debris.
- Investing in our packaging: To achieve its collection goal, the Coca-Cola System is continuing to work towards making all of its packaging 100% recyclable. The Company is building better bottles, whether through more recycled content, by developing plant-based resins, or by reducing the amount of plastic in each container. By 2030, the Coca-Cola system also aims to make bottles with an average of 50% recycled content. The goal is to set a new global standard for beverage packaging. Currently, our returnable glass bottle and PET packaging in Nigeria is 100% recyclable.
Onyemelukwe Nwamaka, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited explained “Bottles and cans shouldn’t harm our planet, and a litter-free world is possible.
“Companies like ours must be leaders. Consumers around the world care about our planet, and they want and expect companies to take action. That’s exactly what we’re doing, and we will continue to lead in this space. We invite others to join us on this critical journey.”
The World Without Waste campaign represents Coca-Cola’s commitment to doing business in a way that eliminates waste which causes damage to the environment and supports job creation and financial empowerment.
Under this campaign and through the Coca-Cola Foundation, the company has sponsored and supported projects geared towards proper waste management and infrastructure that supports life on earth and human development.
With grants of over $800,000 from the Coca-Cola Foundation to multiple local NGOs, several recycling and women empowerment programs are being implemented to address the issue of environmental protection while empowering women who are significant pillars of the environment.
Additionally, through Coca-Cola’s System investment in one foremost recycling company in Nigeria, Alkem, more than One billion PET bottles were collected and recycled in Nigeria into fibre and other products from 2005 to 2011; more than 1,800 people directly employed on an average income of $6 per day (3 times the national average); as well as the creation of synthetic fibre for local industries and export.
Coca-Cola has further invested into building an industry coalition that has birthed the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA). FBRA is an alliance of responsible and forward-looking companies united by a shared concern for the environment and a commitment to collaborate with all stakeholders in building a sustainable recycling economy for food and beverage packaging waste.
These efforts have so far led to over 55 million bottles recovered from the environment and recycled into other products.
Some of the notable NGO grants towards building environmental sustainability includes the $150,000 grant to the Initiative for the Advancement of Waste Management in Africa, which is aimed at helping them establish eight ‘Cash for Trash’ recycling hubs in communities around Abuja, a $100,000 grant to the Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC) for its Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE) program, $56,000 grant to Global Shapers on Plastics 2 Resources designed to change the behaviour of citizens on waste disposal and about $170,000 grant to the African Clean-Up Initiative, which has birthed two key programs – RecyclePay and Clean-Up Naija.
The RecyclePay program has supported children with funding to attend low-tuition schools by exchanging plastic bottle waste donated by their parents for school fees while solving a key climate issue as well as SDG Goals 4 and 10. Currently, the African Clean-Up Initiative is using a similar approach to support low-income families affected by the coronavirus pandemic by giving them cash, double the value of plastic bottles recovered.
Coca-Cola is sure leading the way and making a difference towards preserving nature thereby supporting life on earth and human development.
Two Nigerian lawyers have sued promoters of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) over allegations of electoral fraud and unlawful use of personal data.
The legal actions follow the recent election conducted by the NLS, a breakaway association formed as an alternative to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), to elect its national officers.
In one of the suits, marked FHC/ABJ/05/1506/2025 and filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, a lawyer, Timothy Tersugh Ahua, is challenging the conduct of the election and the legitimacy of the electoral process.
Ahua named several NLS promoters, including prominent lawyers, as defendants.
They include Senior Advocates, Chief Mela Audu Nunghe, Dr. Ugoji Eze, Secretary of the NLS Electoral Committee, and Chief Bolaji, Chairman of the NLS.
Others named in the suit are Ferguson Chioma Blessing, Chief Emeka Ichoku, and Tejumola Adigun.
Citing provisions of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, Ahua is asking the court to declare that the NLS electoral process violated its constitution.
He is seeking a declaration that all unopposed candidates, including himself, be declared elected, as published by Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, the alternate Chairman of the NLS Electoral Committee.
Ahua claims he was duly nominated for the position of Secretary General but was unjustly excluded, accusing the defendants of hand-picking candidates in breach of the rules.
He further alleged that the exclusion caused him financial loss, reputational damage, and personal hardship, urging the court to correct what he described as a grave injustice.
In a separate suit before the Federal High Court in Abeokuta, another lawyer, Oluwadare Thomas, sued Chief Mela Nunghe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Ugoji Eze, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), over alleged violation of his data privacy rights.
Thomas is asking the court to determine whether the use and publication of his personal data by NLS election officials without his consent amounts to a breach of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
He also wants the court to consider whether the use of the NLS name for the election, despite a CAC notice and a pending suit, constitutes contempt of court and abuse of legal process.
He is seeking several declaratory and injunctive reliefs, including a court order restraining the continued use of his personal data and an order compelling NITDA and NDPC to investigate and sanction the respondents.
Thomas is also demanding N50m in compensation for the alleged unlawful processing and exposure of his personal information.
The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has congratulated Chief Owolabi Salis on his successful space flight. He becomes the first person of Nigerian birth to travel to space.
Chief Salis privately funded his space mission, demonstrating the deep interest of Nigerians to participate in scientific, exploratory, tourism and commercial space activities. His achievement highlights new opportunities for private sector engagement in space Program.
This milestone brings significant international attention to Nigeria’s space program, capabilities, while positioning the nation among countries where citizens actively participate in space activities.
In a statement signed by Dr. Felix Ale, director, Media and Corporate Communications, NASRDA, stated that chief Salis’s successful mission represents one pathway for Nigerian space participation. “His achievement complements NASRDA’s ongoing efforts to expand access to space exploration for Nigerian citizens.
“NASRDA received notification of Chief Salis’s mission through our partner organization, Space Research and Exploration Agency (SERA), prior to the flight. His success demonstrates the expanding opportunities now available to Nigerians in the space sector.
“However, it must be emphasized that the NASRDA-SERA collaborative mission, announced in June 2024, remains on course for an upcoming Blue Origin flight. This program represents a different pathway, providing opportunities for broader Nigerian participation through open competition.
“Our collaborative mission will enable Nigerian citizens to participate in astronaut selection and contribute to the development of research proposals. Eligibility extends to all Nigerian citizens aged 18 and above through transparent, merit-based selection criteria.
“Research priorities for the NASRDA-SERA mission will also be determined through public input from Nigerian citizens. This approach ensures the mission addresses national priorities identified by Nigerian citizens,” the statement added.
The application portal for the NASRDA-SERA program will open in the coming weeks. Detailed application procedures will be announced prior to the portal’s activation.
NASRDA celebrates Chief Salis’s contribution to raising awareness about space exploration opportunities for Nigerians. His private investment demonstrates the practical commitment of Nigerian citizens to advancing our national space participation.
Chief Salis’s achievement marks a defining moment for Nigeria’s space ambitions. Nigeria now has both private citizens and government programs actively pursuing space exploration, positioning the nation as an active participant in the global space economy.
For additional information regarding NASRDA programs or the SERA collaborative mission, contact the agency’s Media and Corporate Communication Department.
The Nigerian Insurers Association has urged the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions to respect the constitutional separation of powers as it carries out a probe on over 20 insurance firms.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NIA, Mrs Bola Odukale, said the decision of NIA and the affected firms to approach the court was to seek clarity on the constitutional limits of the House Committee’s probe.
It would be recalled that the House of Representatives on Monday is investigating no fewer than 25 insurance companies operating in the country for various financial infractions spanning financial reporting, claims settlement, premium remittance, and issuance of policies.
The Chairman, House Sub-Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Kwamoti Laori, during a meeting with the management of the insurance companies at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, said the meeting was convened following the receipt of a petition on infractions by the insurance companies.
In the statement, Odukale said, “The Association wishes to state unequivocally that all actions taken by the NIA and the affected member companies in response to the Committee’s invitations and pronouncements were based entirely on legal advice by its Solicitors. It was on the firm instruction of legal counsel that recourse was made to the courts.
“The objective of approaching the Court is to seek judicial guidance on the legality, propriety, and constitutional limits of the Committee’s intervention in order to safeguard institutional integrity, uphold regulatory independence, and ensure that legislative oversight remains within the bounds of law.
“The Court action seeks to determine whether the current posture of the Committee reflects an exercise of legislative judgment, which, by constitutional design, is the exclusive province of statutory regulators, such as the National Insurance Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigerian Exchange, Financial Reporting Council, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, and the National Information Technology Development Agency.
“This raises serious questions about legislative overreach and an erosion of the doctrine of separation of powers, a cornerstone of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.”
Odukale maintained that the NIA was committed to lawful and constructive engagement with all arms of government, provided that such engagement respects the autonomy of statutory regulators and the boundaries established by the Constitution.
“The NIA will continue to provide its full support to all member companies while upholding the principles of legal compliance and sector-wide integrity,” Odukale concluded.
17 of the companies that went to court were represented by their lawyer, Mr Abimbola Kayode, at the meeting with the committee.
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