Over 500 people from four communities in Lagos State have benefited from the picking of pet bottles under the Double Double Initiative in the last six months.

 

The Chief Environmental Officer, African Clean-Up Initiative (ACI), Mr Alexander Akhigbe, disclosed this on Saturday in an interview with the Newsmen.

 

Akhigbe, who spoke on the sideline of the Double Double Recycling Initiative at Ilupeju/Mushin in Lagos, recalled that the programme kicked off in Ajegunle on Feb. 7.

 

“It then moved to Alagbado and Ijora-Oloye,’’ he recalled, adding it was designed to support the less privileged, and also make the environment cleaner and healthier.

 

Akhigbe said that the programme’s COVID-19 support project was powered by the ACI and sponsored by the Coca-Cola Foundation, “to relieve people from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic’’.

 

He explained that the pet bottle pickers earned double of the money usually paid per kilogramme under the initiative, adding that though the price per kilogramme was N20, bottle pickers under the COVID-19 programme got N40 per kilogramme.

 

“Our goal is to encourage such pickers to be able to earn a living from the picking and selling of pet bottles to the recyclers,’’.

 

“We have a partnership with the Recyclers Association of Nigeria, which gives us access to recyclers in different locations in Lagos and we also have a relationship with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).

 

“Recently, we received official Certification endorsing our activities from LAWMA and we also have a good relationship with the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment,” he said.

 

Akhigbe, therefore, urged Lagos residents to turn a new leaf and patronize the ACI and other recyclers to stem the indiscriminate disposal of pet bottles in the streets and drains in the metropolis.

A recycler, Mr Irebami Taiwo, urged Lagos residents to imbibe the trend of sorting their waste products to pick out those that could be recycled.

 

A volunteer, Mr Lanre Usanga, urged Nigerians to imbibe the AIC initiative, saying that it would enhance `neighbourhood cleanliness’.