A partnership which includes Dow (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) and the Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre (Lagos / Nigeria; www.lbs.edu.ng) will work towards recycling around 300m water sachets in Nigeria. Many of these normally end up in landfill sites.

Data suggests nearly a fifth of Nigerians don’t have access the clean water, a situation addressed by the supply of water in sachets. However, their use has caused an environmental issue, and Dow has teamed with the LBS sustainability centre as well as local collection group RecylePoints (Lagos; www.recyclepoints.com) and processor Omnik (Lagos; www.omnik.biz) to launch “Project ReflexNG”. The partners hope the scheme will divert 600 t away from landfill and into recycling streams.

According to Dow, more than 90% of waste generated in Africa is disposed at uncontrolled dumpsites and landfills. The chemicals giant said the water sachet collection pilot was being set up to create a viable business case for the use of recyclate in non-food primary packaging. Alongside the scheme, the LBS sustainability centre will help small- and medium-sized waste enterprises learn about sustainability principles to improve their businesses and recycling practices.