Plastic To Wealth;  Adamawa Govt Partners World Bank

By; TINA PHINEAS, Yola

The Adamawa State Government, in collaboration with the World Bank and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has finalized plans to establish a recycling plant that will transform plastic waste into useful products.

Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources Development,

Muhammed Sadiq Muhammad  said this initiative is aimed at ensuring a cleaner, healthier environment for the people of the state, with a strong focus on combating plastic pollution—the theme for this year’s

World Environment Day,

“We have concluded negotiations to install a recycling plant that will harvest the plastics littering our environment and convert them into reusable items such as chairs, beds, and interlock tiles.

“The recycling plant was initially earmarked for Gombi, the federal government had allocated land for the plant’s development. However, challenges related to transporting plastics from urban centers and inconsistent power supply in the area prompted a strategic shift”, the Commissioner said.

Mohammad maintained that the state government has since signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with key stakeholders to relocate the recycling facility to Yola, the state capital.

He stated further that the government is also engaging with major beverage producers including Adamawa Beverages and Coca-Cola, to encourage the adoption of paper-based packaging as a sustainable alternative to plastics.

“We are working on ways to reduce plastic consumption at the industrial level, and one step is encouraging our manufacturers to shift from plastic to paper packaging,” the Commissioner added.

Speaking on the bold steps taken by the ministry, the commissioner spoke about the reintroduction of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, a practice that had been dormant for over three decades.

He said the  initiative, under the leadership of Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, is aimed at fostering a culture of cleanliness across the state.

The Ministry has also taken steps to streamline waste management by registering  all waste handlers.

“We have summoned all the waste managers across the state and documented their details to ensure they dispose waste only at designated sites,” the Commissioner stated.

He stressed that the government is taking decisive action to make its environment cleaner and more sustainable for future generations.