The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has canvassed a policy to enforce recycling of plastics at airports.
The Managing Director, FAAN, Mr. Saleh Dunoma, made the call at a programme to mark the World Environment Day in Lagos, he spoke on the theme: “Beat plastic pollution.”Dunoma said an appropriate policy was needed to reduce the increasing plastic wastes at the airports’ environment and in the country.
According to him, though airports do not produce plastic products, they, however, provide avenues for generation of plastic products through facilities, as well as selling of items packed in plastic containers.
The Managing Director who was represented by FAAN’s Director, Environmental Services, Mr. Daura Salisu, said these activities contribute to the plastic waste generation in the immediate and larger environment.
“Large chunks of industrial and consumer products are either made up of plastic materials, or packed in plastic containers. This ranges from water in plastic bottles, chemicals in plastic containers, plastic keyboards, plastic computer monitors, plastic carriage bags and plastic buckets.”
He explained that these categories of wastes are not only problems for the earth, but are also bad for people’s health and the ecology.
Dunoma said the evidence of plastic waste in Nigeria could not be disputed, adding that the aim of the UN on this year’s theme was to create awareness on its effects.
He added: “Available statistics show everyone’s contributions to this challenge. Only one sector could not have been responsible for the over 200,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste that find their ways into the water bodies every year in the country.
“Only one sector could not have been responsible for the ranking of Nigeria as one of the top 20 countries with the worst plastic waste management. The statistics and physical evidences speak for themselves,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Muhtar Usman, said the scale of use of plastic products had increased massively over the years.
The Deputy General Manager (Air Transport), Mrs. Oyetoun Adegbesin, represented him.
He said many airports are now committed to continually improving the environment by putting in place effective waste management system to prevent pollution.
Usman stressed that airports are also working with airlines to ensure proper handling of recyclable materials from off aircraft, including plastic products.
