Leading soft drinks and beverage manufacturing company, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), has reaffirmed its commitment towards a safe, clean and pollution free environment as the company led members of its staff and representatives from Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) in a beach clean-up activity which held to observe the 2019 World Environment Day.
Speaking on the coastal beach clean-up exercise which held at the Kids Beach Garden, Lagos in Lagos on Friday, June 7, 2019, the Public Affairs and Communications Director of Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, Mr. Ekuma Eze described the action as part of the company’s contribution to achieve its 2025 commitments geared towards making the environment safe.
Eze who spoke on the theme of this 2019 World Environment Day tagged “Beat Air Pollution” explained that current environmental challenges demand urgent attention.
“Environmental sustainability has remained a major focus for us at NBC. We believe that a concerted effort is necessary to ensure that the environment is preserved for future generations.
This duty cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the government, the private sector, or environmentally conscious individuals, everyone has an important role to play. We are here today to play our own part and to draw the public’s attention to the importance of preserving our environment” he said.
“We need to come to the point in Nigeria where issues of environmental sustainability are integrated into our environmental architecture and strategy.
This year’s World Environment day is themed ‘Beat Air Pollution’ and interestingly, this is a goal that we can all contribute towards. Air pollution comes from household, industry, agricultural, transport and waste management activities.
We need to be conscious of the ways our activities in these areas impact on the environment. For instance, improved collection, sorting and recycling of waste ultimately reduces the amount of waste that is burned or landfilled. We encourage other individuals or institutions to emulate what we are doing here today and take concrete steps to protect the environment”.
He stressed that aside the 2019 coastal beach cleaning exercise, the company continuously reviews and optimizes its operational and production processes to drive sustainability.
“On our own part, we and our strategic partners, The Coca-Cola Company, are embarking on a comprehensive, multi-year plan that directly addresses issues regarding packaging.
This approach – World Without Waste – has a goal to collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for each one we sell by 2030. In addition, most of our plants are now being powered using renewable energy sources. With our combined heat and power plant, we have been able to reduce our amount of carbon foot print drastically, as is obtained in other developed countries” he added.
Also speaking at the occasion, Assistant Director, Cleaner Lagos Initiative, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mr. Adewunmi Adetona who represented the General Manger of the agency led the team of volunteers from LAWMA in the clean-up activity and he commended the management of Nigerian Bottling Company Limited for its thoughtfulness in cleaning up the shoreline, noting that this action would go a long way to reduce the impact of flooding and other environmental hazards plaguing the area.
2019 CEO KPMG Nigeria CEO Outlook“We sincerely appreciate the efforts of NBC and its contributions towards environmental sustainability. We urge other corporate organizations to emulate the beverage company as concerted efforts are needed to protect the environment” she said.
In her remarks, the founder of Kids Beach Garden, Ms. Doyinsola Ogunye expressed delight that NBC took up the initiative to clean the coastal line, saying this would in no small measure lessen the hazards associated with air pollution.
