Plastic bottles, cans in exchange for school fees in Nigeria

Saratu Abubakar, Staff Reporter

In Lagos, Nigeria, low-income earning parents have been given the opportunity to pay their wards’ school fees with waste; plastic bottles, pure water sachets and cans.

African Clean Up Initiative (ACI) a non-governmental organisation that aims to raise environmentally responsible citizens, launched a project in December 2018 called RecyclesPay Education Project.

Chief Executive Office, ACI, Alexander Akhigbe said the project was initiated due to the increment in the number of children dropping out of school because their parents are unable to pay the school fees.

Aside from making it easy for low-income earners to send their wards to school, the initiative aims to create awareness about the effect of plastic pollution on the environment.

"We also want to address the issue of plastic pollution from another dimension which will be beneficial to human lives, education and the environment at large," he added.

He said the project focuses on collecting plastic due to the damage plastic, pure water sachets and cans do to the environment, blocking drainages and causing flood.

"The recycling firm, Wecyclers buy off the PET bottles when parents bring it to school and the money is paid to the school through ACI," he added.

Recyclespay Education Project is contributing in the reduction of plastic pollution, alongside promoting education, good environmental practice of recycling and economic growth.

The "RecyclesPay Education Project" addresses nine goals out of the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals of transforming the world.