APM Terminals Apapa raises awareness on plastic pollution

The Managing Director of APM Terminals Apapa, Martin Jacob, has made a case for the proper disposal and recycling of plastic wastes to reduce its harmful effect on the ocean, wildlife and humans.

Mr Jacob spoke recently during a cleanup exercise organized by APM Terminals Apapa in partnership with Wecyclers at the Ogogoro Island, a riverine community in Apapa, Lagos as part of the company’s 2018 “Go Green” campaign. No fewer than 120 employees of the company, Wecyclers volunteers and residents of the community took part in the cleaning exercise; collecting trash and other litters from the shoreline of the island. The total waste collected weighed 228kg.

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Mr Jacob said the cleanup exercise was aimed at raising the awareness of APM Terminals’ staff and the general community on the importance of environmental care through proper management of plastic waste.

The APM Terminals Apapa Managing Director, who noted that it may be difficult to abolish the use of plastic bottles, said there is however, an urgent need to take action against plastic pollution in Nigeria to protect the marine environment.

He said, “In Nigeria, very often you see the whole place flooded. This is all because of the plastic bottles we throw in the drains. So we just want to spread the message among our communities and also our employees to inculcate the culture of disposing plastic waste in a proper manner, in other words, recycle it.”

One of the leaders of the Ogogoro Island community, Alade Isaiah, expressed appreciation to APM Terminals for taking up the clean up exercise, even as he urged other port operators to emulate the good gesture of the leading port operator.

Environmental pollution caused by plastics is capable of causing harm to land, waterways and oceans. Experts believe that by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by weight if concerted efforts are not made to address the issue.