FBRA Reaches 1,200 Lagos Residents, Recovers Three Tonnes of Recyclables During World Environment Day Activities
The Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) has intensified its efforts to promote environmental sustainability by reaching more than 1,200 Lagos residents and students with recycling awareness campaigns while recovering over three metric tonnes of recyclable waste during activities marking the 2026 World Environment Day.
The Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) has intensified efforts to promote environmental sustainability, reaching over 1,200 Lagos residents and students through recycling awareness campaigns and recovering more than three metric tonnes of recyclable waste during activities commemorating the 2026 World Environment Day.
The initiative featured environmental education for more than 250 secondary school students, a community recycling awareness campaign that reached over 1,000 residents, a buyback programme involving more than 400 households in Igando, Lagos, and the official launch of a new recyclables collection centre in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and West Africa ENRG.
The activities drew participation from key stakeholders, including the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), GIZ, FBRA member companies and other public and private sector organisations.
The programme commenced on June 4 at Gbaja Boys High School, Surulere, Lagos, where more than 250 junior and senior secondary school students participated in interactive sessions on the environmental, social and economic consequences of poor waste management, the principles of the circular economy and the importance of responsible waste disposal and recycling.
NESREA facilitated the educational session, while officials from the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources and LAWMA reinforced the importance of collaboration between environmental regulators and producer responsibility organisations. FBRA member companies also supported the programme by providing refreshments and gift items for participating students.
Speaking during the event, Executive Director of FBRA, Agharese Onaghise, said educating young people is critical to changing attitudes toward waste management.
«"When we reach young people in their schools, we are not just educating them about recycling. We are building the generation that will change the narrative on improper waste disposal by taking action," Onaghise said.»
The second phase of the activities focused on community engagement in Igando, where FBRA organised an environmental awareness walk that sensitised more than 1,000 residents on proper waste disposal, the value of post-consumer packaging and the importance of participating in organised waste collection systems.
This was followed by a community buyback programme involving over 400 residents, who exchanged post-consumer packaging materials for food items, beverages and household products supplied by FBRA member companies.
The exercise resulted in the recovery of more than three metric tonnes of recyclable packaging waste, preventing the materials from polluting the environment while demonstrating the practical implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework.
According to FBRA, the buyback initiative also helped residents recognise the economic value of recyclable materials by converting what would otherwise be discarded as waste into useful household products.
A major highlight of the event was the inauguration of a new FBRA-UNIDO recyclables collection centre, which will be managed by West Africa ENRG. The facility is one of three completed collection centres under the partnership and is expected to provide households and small businesses with a permanent and reliable channel for depositing recyclable materials for collection and processing.
The alliance noted that the collection centre would strengthen access to recycling services in the community while supporting Nigeria's transition to a circular economy.
FBRA said the success of the World Environment Day activities underscored the importance of collaboration among producers, environmental regulators, recyclers and local communities.
The alliance reaffirmed its commitment to promoting the Extended Producer Responsibility framework across Nigeria and called for stronger participation by producers in organised packaging waste recovery systems. It also pledged continued collaboration with NESREA, state environmental agencies, recyclers, waste collectors and communities to expand recycling infrastructure, improve participation and strengthen systems for tracking the country's packaging waste recovery efforts.
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