Champion Newspapers Limited
For a better society

Geocycle: Lafarge affirms commitment to turning industrial waste to profit

20
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

 COMFORT EKELEME

Following its commitment to keep materials in use for as long as possible, Lafarge Africa Plc has concluded plans to celebrate its “2021 Geocycle week” with the theme “Think Planet, Think Solutions”.

The 2021 celebration coincides with World Clean-up Day.

Geocycle partnered with the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) to commemorate World Cleanup Day with a cleaning exercise at Bariga market in Lagos.

Head of Geocycle, Lafarge Africa Plc, Daniel Adedokun, said “At Lafarge, our commitment to sustainability is unwavering. We drive a circular economy across everything we do, to keep materials in use for as long as possible, giving them a second life – and a third and a fourth – and using only what is needed to preserve nature.  Improving waste collection is fundamental to advancing the circular economy – and to reducing marine litter.

Speaking further, Adedokun said “Geocycle is stepping up to this challenge by helping businesses achieve plastic neutrality.  This year, Geocycle week’s theme is “Think Planet Think Solutions”. In Nigeria, Geocycle has partnered with some industries driving plastic neutrality since 2018. In 2020, 70,000 tons of various types of waste, representing 9per cent of its energy across the country, was co-processed in our cement kilns,” he said.

The world is currently faced with the worst climate change occurrences in recent history; frequent and intense droughts, storms, heatwaves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and warming oceans. As such, every available measure at our disposal as a race must be utilized in ensuring a greener and the smarter world that works for all.

To further reiterate the company’s position on waste management, Adedokun remarked, “As a responsible organization and leader in sustainable and innovative building solutions, it is our duty to ensure our resources are used in a closed-loop system to minimize waste. Lafarge Africa is working at the highest level to reduce the impact of industrial waste.

He reaffirmed Lafarge Africa’s sustainability agenda that transcends individual efforts into partnerships with other organisations and companies to ensure progress for people and the planet and for a greener sustainable environment.

For Lafarge Africa, one of the key ways of meeting its global commitment to reducing carbon emissions is through investing in waste pre-processing and co-processing. This explains the solution in the 2021 theme of aiding “Planet Solutions” for plastic neutrality for many industries.  This investment is steadily allowing us to move away from sources of energy which are main contributors to carbon emissions towards renewable sources of energy to power its plants.

Geocycle is the initiative for the future from today. According to the United Nations Habitat Watch, African city populations will more than triple over the next 40 years, and as this happens more waste will be generated. It, therefore, becomes imperative to ensure that initiatives like Geocycle are available to ensure an efficient waste management system that will simultaneously destroy indecomposable waste, combat carbon emission, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Lafarge Africa Plc is a member of the Holcim Group, the world’s leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. The Group is committed to building progress for people and the plant in line with the four pillars of their sustainability strategy including Climate and Energy, Circular Economy, Environment, and Community.

As a Group fully committed to achieving climate targets that are validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Holcim also aims to accelerate CO2 reduction by 20per cent. Geocycle, which is Holcim’s waste management arm, sits on the Circular Economy pillar of its sustainability strategy.

Comments are closed.