Sterling One Foundation Champions Community-led Clean-ups

With plastic pollution still threatening lives, coastlines, and ecosystems across Nigeria, the Sterling One Foundation is taking concrete steps to confront the crisis through community-led cleanups, strategic partnerships, and ongoing policy engagement.

Earlier this year, the Foundation led a major cleanup at Elegushi Beach under its Beach Adoption Programme, a national initiative that has now formally adopted more than five beaches since 2021.

Across these sites, the Foundation has cleared over 9,000 kilograms of waste, including more than 4,800 kilograms of recyclables, while working with local leaders to embed awareness and long-term stewardship in coastal communities.

CEO of Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju Ibekwe, stated that “our work on the beaches is not symbolic. It is a deliberate strategy to improve coastal resilience, protect vulnerable populations, and link sustainability with real opportunity.

Every cleanup is a chance to restore dignity to the environment and build trust in the systems meant to protect it.”

She stated that “on June 13, Sterling One Foundation will join other stakeholders at WEDex 2025, a World Environment Day convening hosted by GreenHub Africa in partnership with the United Nations. The Foundation will speak at the ‘Financing Youth Initiatives for Green Entrepreneurship’ session in Abuja, focusing on unlocking capital for community-based solutions to plastic waste.”

The United Nations, a key partner on WEDex, also returns this year as co-convener of the Africa Social Impact Summit, scheduled for July 10 and 11, 2025 in Lagos.

The summit will focus on practical solutions for climate resilience and policy innovation under the theme Scaling Action: Bold Solutions for Climate Resilience and Policy Innovation.

Ibekwe noted that “plastic pollution is a development issue but also an untapped opportunity. If we do not treat it as urgent and systemic, it will keep undermining livelihoods, health, and climate goals.

“Yet, if we engage the right partnerships and investment, plastic waste can be turned into a driver of jobs and innovation, especially for young people across the continent. The call now is for both the public and private sectors to act, to see beyond the problem and unlock its potential for good.”

Sterling One Foundation (SOF) is a registered non-profit focused on tackling the root causes of poverty in Nigeria, and Africa through interventions and social impact programmes across three critical sectors namely: health, education and climate action & food security. Gender Equality and women empowerment are integrated as a cross cutting priority across all our programming areas. The Foundation’s programmes adopt a central theme of prioritising partnerships for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).