Obiano signs $ 1.1m waste recycling contract
The Anambra State Government has signed a $ 1.1 million agreement with Redivivus Industries Limited.
The contract is for establishment of Plastic Recycling Plant, and management of other waste materials in Anambra State.
The project with an investment portfolio of over one million dollars will make use of an existing UNDP site at Ogbunike in Oyi Local Government Area.
Performing the ceremony at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, Governor Willie Obiano, said he was delighted that the partnership would help in clearing waste materials that litter the streets and gutters of the state after rainfall.
Governor Obiano appreciated the engagement of waste scavengers by the firm to generate plastic and other materials that would be recycled.
He, however, charged the State Ministry of Environment to organise the sector properly by introducing a Pilot Scheme that would help households and offices to separate their wastes efficiently for easy recycling.
The Governor stressed that the scheme if properly supervised would rid the state of waste materials in the next two years.
Earlier, Managing Director of Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency, ANSIPPA, Mr. Jide Ikeakor, explained that the project would promote a beautiful waste to wealth programme in the economy.
Ikeakor noted that the agreement would create about 50 direct jobs and improve the state’s IGR by making waste management profitable.
The Managing Director of the firm, Mr. Emeka Ajekwu, noted that the company was bringing innovation into the management of waste through the recycling of plastic waste and other materials.
Ajekwu assured that the firm had established a network of waste scavengers supplying it at the moribund UNDP structure in Ogbunike to help in sustainable environmental management.
“By mid 2018, Redivivus Industries moved to the moribund structure established by the UNDP and Anambra State Government in Ogbunike on a pilot basis.
“I am proud to say we have since brought the location to life, employing 44 permanent staff and an additional 16 contract staff. In 2018, we recycled 320,000 KG of plastic waste,” Ajekwu added.
Contributing, Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Mike Okonkwo, said the move would help in solving the menace of plastic wastes in the state as well as bring social and economic benefits to the citizens.
