As part of its effort to protect the environment from global plastic pollution, the Ecocykle Development Foundation (EDF) has trained 100 underprivileged young people on how to reuse plastic garbage to produce eco-bricks.
The exercise, which took place in Angwan Gwandara, up market in Masaka, a district under Karu Local Government Area (LGA) in Nasarawa State, Nigeria’s north-central region, was also intended to help address the country’s unemployment problem, which data from the National Bureau of Statistics estimated at 4.2% in 2023.
According to EDF founder, Aliyu Sadiq, these two issues spurred his establishment to launch the Oya Recycling Project (ORP), a public awareness campaign aimed at empowering and sensitising disadvantaged youngsters living in slums.
“We hope to equip them with the skills needed to unlock their creativity, solve environmental problems affecting their communities, and also create jobs for themselves,” he stated.
The environmental rights campaigner continued by explaining that his firm conceptualised the project because it understands how important these skills are to solving the country’s environmental hitches and socioeconomic progress in an all-encompassing manner.
Sadiq expressed gratitude to all of her sponsors, particularly the Pollination Grant Project, and mentioned that the programme is expected to foster creativity, find and nurture local talent, and create a network of young people who would canvass for sustainable practices and ecologically conscious behaviour.
In her opinion, Nafisat Mohammed, the community volunteer in charge of the ORP at Angwan Manja, feels that the capacity-building activity had a significant impact because the beneficiaries can now engage in worthwhile businesses that will raise their standard of living.
“Through this training, they have learned how to recycle plastic waste and sand into useful items such as blocks,” she said.
A few of the community’s beneficiaries, which included craftsmen who participated in the exercise, praised the ingenuity of the procedure as they saw low-density polyethylene, also known as “pure water sachets,” recycled into eco-bricks.
“I am a mechanic, and I have learned here today that we can turn the plastics in our waste bins into something useful,” Abdulmajid Mohammed, one of the beneficiaries, noted.
Through this project, EDF has trained over 150 people in two communities and plans to empower over 1,000 marginalised Nigerians on sustainable waste management practices to promote public health, create green jobs, and reduce the threats of climate change to overall human survival.
By Etta Michael Bisong, Abuja
