Norfund, the Norwegian Development Finance Institution, has committed EUR 2 million as a convertible loan to Wecyclers Nigeria Limited, a recycling company based in Lagos to finance a new plant for the recycling of PET bottles for use in new bottles locally and in Europe
The plant will be located in Ogun state in Nigeria and will have a capacity of 12, 000 tons per year.
Speaking on the development, Carl Johan Wahlund, Senior Vice President for Green Infrastructure at Norfund said “By showcasing a functioning model, we can enable the development of an industry that is crucial in tackling the challenges of plastic pollution while creating a large number of jobs.”
More than 171 trillion pieces of plastic are now estimated to be floating in the world’s oceans, an increase from 16 trillion pieces in 2005, and it could further nearly triple by 2040.
Systems for the collection of plastic are crucial in tackling plastic pollution. Establishing these with incentives and a commercially sound model across the value chain is however complicated even in many high-income countries, and still more challenging in developing countries, where waste regulation and enforcement of extended producer responsibility is lacking.
Carl added, “Wecyclers has managed to establish a model in one of the more difficult areas of the world, with its own collection both directly from households and via kiosks and franchises, combined with a close collaboration with a European plastic producer which will serve to ensure that both the process and the output quality meets highest international standards.”
“While this plant only tackles a small part of the problem, showcasing a functioning model will gradually enable the development of an industry and the promotion of a culture of waste management. We see Wecyclers as our first of many investments in the recycling sector”, he added.
Serioplast, a leading plastic packaging manufacturer headquartered in Italy has been a minority shareholder in Wecyclers since 2018.
Commenting on the partnership, Olawale Adebiyi, CEO of Wecyclers said “With these new partnerships, Wecyclers is well positioned to contribute to a truly circular economy where we continue to create more value, support the women and small businesses we work with to increase their income and help build more resilient, healthy, and sustainable communities in the cities where we operate”