19inSciencemagazinebya teamofresearchersledby
JennaJambeckoftheUniversityofGeorgia,Nigeria
wastheninth-largestsourceofoceanplastics—based
on 2010 data,whenthecountryconsumedfarless
thanit doesnow.Thestudyfoundthat83%of
Nigeria’sPETwasteis unmanaged.Consumption
isexpectedtohit300,000metrictonsby2021,
accordingtoa reportbyFBRA,anorganizationof
thecountry’s top beverage companies.
Globally more than 200 businesses, representing
about 20% of all packaging used worldwide, have
made commitments to reduce plastic waste, accord-
ing to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Unilever NV
on Oct. 7 doubled down on an earlier commitment
by announcing it would halve its use of virgin plas-
tic by 2025 by various means, including using more
recycled plastic. Coca-Cola Co. was among the first
big beverage sellers to share its goals publicly in
January 2018, when it announced that its bottles will
contain an average of 50% recycled content by 2030.
Local companies considering investing the
$12 million to $20 million needed to get rPET plants
off the ground in Lagos are asking for guarantees
that the top beverage makers will buy materials
from them. “No guarantees have yet been signed,
but individual companies have global commit-
ments for recycling,” says Sade Morgan, director
of corporate affairs at the Nigerian unit of brewer
Heineken NV and FBRA’s chairman. “To that end,
there is certainly a commitment by their local sub-
sidiaries toward using rPET once locally available.”
Coca-Cola is committed to using rPET in line with its
global goal and is in talks with an investor, said Clem
Ugorji, public affairs director for its West Africa unit.
Companies that are interested, but uncertain,
aboutinvestinginrecyclingplantsinNigeriainclude
a unitofMohinaniGroup,oneofthecountry’sbig-
gestproducersofvirginplasticbottles,andAlkem,a
sistercompanyofJohannesburg-basedExtrupetSA,
sub-SaharanAfrica’slargestrecyclerofPETbottles.
ButwithnolocalregulationmandatingrPET
content,beveragemakerscouldchoosetoshunit.
“Virginplasticis stillcheaperthanrecycledplas-
tic,”saysPieterjanVanUytvanck,a Singapore-based
principalanalystatWoodMackenziewhoexpects
rPETtobemoreexpensiveuntilatleast2025.Yet
regulationandcompanycommitmentscouldstill
spurbottle-to-bottlerecyclingplants,hesays.
Globalpressureis growing.Morethan 30 African
nationshavebansorrestrictionsontheuseofplas-
ticbags.AndinEurope,wherea EuropeanUnion
directivemandatesthatPETbottlesmusthave25%
recycledcontentby2025,beveragemakersareeffec-
tivelyforcedtobuyfromrPETproducers,andsome
mayeventuallybuysomeofLagos’swaste.
But evenifa marketfor recycledbottlesis
guaranteed in Nigeria, collection remains a
challenge. Wecyclers, a business founded by Bilikiss
Adebiyi-Abiola and run by her brother, Olawale
Adebiyi, is a pioneer in door-to-door waste collec-
tion in Lagos. It’s the company that recruited Alex,
who’s recruited others by sharing the story of how
much money she makes. Others in Lagos are trying
to change local behavior around the disposal of bot-
tles. The Africa Cleanup Initiative allows parents to
pay school fees with used bottles they’ve collected.
While the 15 naira that Wecyclers pays per kilo
of PET bottles has been enough to motivate Alex,
Adebiyi says he’s keen to see more buyers for
them, which would increase the price and boost▲ Women collect
and sort bottles at
Wecyclers’ recycling
hub in Lagos