WED: FBRA spreads circular economic awareness among students, communities

The Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) reaffirmed its commitment to environmental sustainability with a series of activities to mark the 2025 World Environment Day (WED), celebrated globally under the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution.”

With initiatives focused on education, advocacy, and infrastructure support, FBRA’s campaign this year centred on promoting circular economic practices, fostering behavioural change, and empowering young Nigerians to lead environmental action.

In line with its youth-centric strategy, FBRA kicked off its World Environment Day activities with an advocacy outreach at Mainland Senior High School, Fadeyi, Lagos. The session engaged over 630 students on the importance of recycling, the dangers of improper waste disposal, and the role young people play in preserving the environment.

To support sustainable waste practices within the school, FBRA donated upcycled eco-friendly bags made from repurposed post-consumer flexible packaging, educational materials on recycling, a weighing scale for tracking recyclables, a giant waste bin, and two (2) jumbo-sized recycling bags to encourage sorting and collection of plastic waste among students of the school.

The students expressed excitement at the hands-on demonstration and enthusiastically pledged to become environmental ambassadors within their school and communities.

FBRA, alongside staff from member companies, volunteers, waste pickers and community advocates, took part in a high-impact awareness walk across the Adeniji Jones, Ikeja axis of Lagos state. Participants engaged with residents and commuters, driving home messages around responsible disposal and the key benefits of recycling.

With placards, branded vests, and street-level energy, the walk served as a public-facing effort to drive home the urgency of environmental restoration.

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Immediately after the awareness walk, FBRA hosted a community buy-back program at Adekunle village in Ikeja, Lagos state, where residents were rewarded with FBRA member company products as incentives in exchange for recyclables. The initiative, carried out in partnership with local collection partners, helped raise awareness on the economic value of post-consumer packaging and offered residents a practical reason to engage in waste segregation.

To further strengthen plastic waste recovery efforts, FBRA launched two new community-based collection centres in Nasarawa and Abuja. These centres are designed to serve as drop-off points for recyclables, bridging the gap between community members and recyclers. By adding new collection centres, FBRA is creating a more efficient ecosystem that supports the Nigerian government’s broader waste management goals.

Through collaboration with partners, schools, waste collectors, and the general public, FBRA’s 2025 World Environment Day campaign is a testament to the power of community action, education, and infrastructure development in delivering real impact for people and the planet.