A non-governmental organisation, U-Recycle Initiative, has tasked learners on the need to join ongoing efforts in turning waste products to wealth by fabricating useable and good products from waste.
The Founder of U-Recycle Initiative, Mr Oluwaseyi Moejoh, spoke during this year’s Global Recycling Day in Lagos tagged, ‘Recycling into the future; focusing on the power of youth and education in ensuring a better future for the planet’.
Moejoh, who disclosed that his NGO was determined to collaborate with schools in making the initiative a reality, said, “The aim of this event is to celebrate recycling and the role it plays in protecting our environment, preserving our planet and promoting public health.
“We have created awareness by making students understand that there is a problem with waste as they see evidently and they have to act quickly; they have to start recycling and up-cycling to prevent these wastes ending on the street and in oceans.
“We just started U-recycle. Very soon, we plan to organise awareness walks to communities and possibly markets but we have majorly focused on schools. We want to promote a recycling system in such a way that all recyclables generated such as bottles, carton, papers and nylon, among others, are taken to a plant for processing to make a new thing.”
The co-founder, Bello Fathia, said the organisation planned to train schools to create greater awareness on recycling, adding that “U-recycle organises workshops and we don’t really sell our bottles but instead, we generate our bottles to create hubs.
“We plan that each school will go for our workshops; we would have hubs there which they will use to build houses, and then sell.”
Represented at this year’s Global Recycling Day were Ogudu Grammar School; Fridaous Memorial Secondary School; Queens College and Tee-tops Primary School all in Lagos.
The representatives of the various schools participated in dress making with used straws, nylon, disposable cups and bottle
covers.
Ogudu Grammar School came first in the recycling competition.
