The Coca-Cola Foundation Awards Grant to GBF to Launch Empowering Collector Initiative (ECI) To Create Sustainable and Viable Plastic Waste Ecosystem in Nigeria

The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded a grant to Growing Businesses Foundation (GBF) targeted at strengthening the plastic waste management value chain through its Empowering Collector Initiative, a program designed to improve the informal plastic waste collection, aggregation and recycling process in Nigeria.

For about 24 months, the program will enhance environmental resilience, prevent the flow of plastic waste (PET) to water ways and landfills, targeting about 25,000 MT of waste. This will accelerate the growing opportunity spectrum of bottle-to-bottle recycling value which is still nascent in Nigeria.

The initiative will empower 3000 female collectors and aggregators across 6 states of Nigeria, who will receive training on effective collection methods & receive necessary safety materials. ECI seeks to help participants, through their transferable skills program, to improve earning capacity of the women by 200% from current earnings of about $2 a day.

Growing Businesses Foundation (GBF), a member of the Commonwealth of Nations Initiative, will partner with experienced sector aggregators including RecyclePoints Limited, Greenhill Recycling Limited, RecycleGarb Hub Limited, Fifthseed Recycling Limited, Green Axis, Idrate Solutions Limited, Ceetee Recyclers Limited, Chanja Datti, Recycling Co.Ltd, Trash Monger Limited, WasteXchange Limited, who will implement this initiative.

The President of The Coca-Cola Foundation, Saadia Madsbjerg said, “our commitment is to continue to enable the empowerment of women in as many communities as we can, providing them with the necessary knowledge required to improve their capacity to generate wealth in a more sustainable way and with a positive impact on our environment.”

Since 1984, The Coca-Cola Foundation has been the primary international philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company and has awarded over $1.4 billion in grants to support sustainable community initiatives worldwide.