Firm Recycles 3,000MT Of Plastic Waste In 2 Years

A circular economy startup, GIVO Africa (Garbage In, Value Out), on Thursday, disclosed that it has recycled over 3,000 Metric Tonnes of plastic waste in two years.
This was disclosed by the founder of the firm Victor Boyle-Komolafe, at the opening of GIVO’s third recycling hub in Ajah, Lagos State.

According to him, the newly opened centre is a significant step towards further addressing Lagos’ pressing waste management challenges and providing economic opportunities for local residents.
He, however, stated that plastic waste is the second largest contributor to pollution in Lagos and urban areas.

“Waste management is like the second largest contributor to pollution in Lagos and in urban areas. And of course, you know, less than five per cent of our waste that’s collected isn’t properly disposed of or managed. So, for us, it is very important that we are able to find a solution to that problem

“We have also avoided 35,000 MT of carbon emissions because all our activities are powered by solar and each activity that we have doesn’t emit any carbon into the atmosphere. Everything from our processing, to collection activities, shredding and the off-taking. The way our system is set up ensures that we save at least 2,000 metric tons of CO2 in each community that we’re present.

“And, through this infrastructure, we collected and recycled up to 150 metric tonnes of plastic material. In Nigeria, we have about four centres which means we are doing about 600 metric tonnes and till date, we’ve avoided about 35,000 metric tonnes of carbon even as we have collected over 3,000 metric tons of recyclable plastic material as well.”

Boyle-Komolafe, however, sought for public and private sector collaboration to scale up their operations

“Right now, we’re looking for collaborations, especially with organisations that would help us scale up our activities. We are looking to set-up more of these centres across Lagos states, across other parts of Nigeria and West Africa.

“We’re currently in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and in Liberia but, we’re looking for ways to expand our reach and expand the impact in more places.

“Right now, we’ve been mandated by Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), to focus more on the island but for example we’re opening something in Apapa by Q1 of next year and we are already in Maryland and like i said and perhaps it’s something that we would explore more in the near future and of course, with the right partnership, it is something that we are more than excited to do sooner, rather than later.”

Speaking on the cost of setting up the centre, he stated, “I would say that it costs a lot more than typical recycling centres, especially because this relies solely on solar to generate its power. He continued, “We have a 12 KVA three-phase solar system powering this facility. We also have electric vehicles and everything we do is zero carbon and is modular. So, it’s a bit more expensive than other recycling setups, but it has a lower cost of operation,” he stated.