Recycling: Why Coca-Cola Foundation offers grant to youths, women
The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), through the New World Programme (NWP) said it has given a grant worth $100,000 (about N500 million) to Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC) to empower women, youth through recycling.
The programme will be implemented by MEDIC under the Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE), a statement by the media handler, BHM said.
It cited a retired English sailor, Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, who said in 2016 that by the year 2050, there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish.
“This does not seem far-fetched as Nigeria currently generates an estimated 32 million tons of solid waste per year, one of the highest amounts in Africa. Of this staggering figure, plastic constitutes 2.5m tons.”
The Coca-Cola Company said it recognizes the challenge of plastic waste disposal in the world, including in Nigeria. The company is currently running a ‘World Without Waste’ programme which seeks to not only educate people on waste disposal but also to work with relevant stakeholders such as MEDIC to improve plastic waste disposal and recycling procedure.
Speaking on behalf of TCCF on the grant, the Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe said, “What RESWAYE does is that it focuses on two crucial passion points for us at Coca-Cola which are women empowerment and sustainable waste management.
“We recognize the importance of preserving our environments and we are passionate about empowering women to reach their full potentials. For this reason, we are excited to be partnering with MEDIC on this.”
MEDIC is an NGO focused on building sustainable environment and oceans through improved education and job creation for more resilient communities. It stands for growth and is passionate about what they do for communities, especially towards plastic pollution, recycling and empowering women.
On the launch of RESWAYE, the Founder of MEDIC, Doyinsola Ogunye said, “We’ve been working in this community for over five years, but mostly with the children. With RESWAYE, we’re empowering the women to not only occupy them but to also equip them enough to provide for and take care of their families. This launch is a historic event because this is the first ever network of women who recycle in Nigeria and we can’t be more proud.”
On why MEDIC was chosen, Onyemelukwe said, “We are proud to partner with them on the Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE) to tackle Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13, 14, and 15, which are: Climate Action, Life Underwater, and Life on Land. RESWAYE seeks to empower selfmotivated women and young people who are ready to make a positive change in their environment.”