Group Marks World Ocean Day With Clean-ups

Members of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) have held a symbolic beach clean-up to commemorate this year’s World Ocean Day.

Led by the current chair, Ziad Maalouf, the beach cleanup, which took place at Elegushi Beach, Lagos, was adopted as a springboard for encouraging more sustainable practices around the country’s ecosystem.

The beach clean-up exercise engaged attendees in a series of activities to remove plastic debris and other pollutants from the environs.

FBRA’s participation in the global commemoration models the company’s commitment to protecting and preserving the environment from post-consumer packaging material.

Speaking at the event, Maalouf, the chairman of the Alliance and managing director at SBC Nigeria, said the journey to a green Nigeria starts with cleaning one spot.

“This beach clean-up event is in alignment with our commitment to environmental stewardship in Nigeria. Our environment holds the fabric of our society together, and our dependence on it is undeniable.

“We must move from a linear economy to a circular economy that protects and drives profit within the Nigerian economy.

“This involves creating investments for a sustainable future, working with local recyclers, and preserving the profit from those streams within the country,” he said.

The executive secretary of the FBRA, Agharese Onaghise, who emphasised the importance of collaboration in tackling waste management and pollution, said: “Members of the FBRA have joined forces to address these issues as part of their extended producer responsibility.

“This event is aligned with the global theme of this year’s World Environment Day ‘Solutions for Plastic Pollution’ as a driver to collectively address the menace of plastic pollution.

“We are excited to have 29 members of the FBRA from the food and beverage industry contributing to solve the issues that affect our environment and ourselves, supporting the collection of the post-consumer waste. We must continue to encourage these practices, ensuring they become ingrained in our culture.”