Fadekemi Ajakaiye
Rite Foods Limited has pledged to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2030 as part of efforts to promote a circular economy and strengthen environmental sustainability in Ogun State.
The company also called for stronger collaboration between the private sector and government in tackling the growing challenge of waste management, saying materials that would ordinarily end up in drains and landfills could be repurposed into useful products.
Speaking during the company’s World Cleanup Day initiative in Ogun State, the Head, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Rite Foods Limited, Ekuma Eze, said the company was committed to ensuring that environmental sustainability remained central to its operations.
Eze said the initiative, carried out in partnership with the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), was designed to recognise the efforts of street sweepers while promoting the concept of waste recovery and recycling.
According to him, Rite Foods distributed 600 coveralls to street sweepers, with about 30 per cent of the materials used in producing the protective clothing sourced from the company’s waste materials.
He said the initiative demonstrated that waste could be transformed into useful resources instead of being discarded.
“We want to drive the message of circularity home. Nothing should be wasted,” Eze said.
He explained that the company recycled waste labels from its sausage and beverage products for use in producing the materials for the coveralls.
Eze said the initiative was also part of the company’s broader commitment to its host community, noting that Rite Foods, being based in Ogun State, had a responsibility to support efforts aimed at maintaining a clean environment.
He said the partnership with OGWAMA was not a one-off activity but would continue for as long as the company remained in operation.
The Rite Foods executive added that World Cleanup Day had become an annual platform through which the company identifies initiatives that align with the United Nations’ theme for the event.
He recalled that the company had previously distributed school bags made from recycled waste materials to pupils.
“We believe that by 2030, we should have achieved zero waste to landfill. None of the waste we generate from our operations should end up in landfills. All of it should be useful, repurposed, reused or recycled,” he said.
Responding, the Special Adviser on Environment to the Ogun State Governor and Managing Director, Ogun State Waste Management Authority, Farouk Akintunde Adeniyi, commended Rite Foods for supporting the state’s waste management efforts.
Adeniyi said the government could not shoulder the responsibility of maintaining a clean and healthy environment alone, stressing that businesses, communities and individuals must play active roles.
He described the Rite Foods initiative as a demonstration of corporate social responsibility and urged other companies operating in Ogun State to emulate the gesture.
“This is a challenge to other corporate organisations across Ogun State to support the government. The effort to ensure a conducive environment is not the responsibility of government alone. It is a collective responsibility involving the government, organisations and all citizens of Ogun State,” he said.
Adeniyi also urged residents to comply with environmental laws and stop indiscriminate disposal of waste.
He disclosed that OGWAMA had introduced the Blue Box Initiative to increase the collection and recycling of recyclable materials across communities.
Under the initiative, officials and aggregators visit communities to educate residents about recyclable waste and purchase the materials from them, thereby turning waste into a source of income.
According to him, the initiative is helping the state move away from the traditional practice of sending waste to landfills towards recycling and resource recovery.
Adeniyi further stated that Ogun State currently hosts the highest number of recycling companies in Nigeria, describing this as evidence of the state’s growing emphasis on the circular economy.
He said the state government would continue to encourage initiatives that create economic value from waste while improving environmental sanitation.
The partnership between Rite Foods and OGWAMA, he added, demonstrated how private-sector investment and government regulation could complement each other in addressing Nigeria’s environmental challenges.
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