Coca-Cola Nigeria says through its recycling initiatives it is committed to the support of environmental protection and sustainability in Nigeria, in commemoration of World Earth Day.

A statement on Friday said the Director, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Amaka Onyemelukwe, also said through its ‘World Without Waste’ initiative, it recycled over 1.5 billion bottles, and invested over $2m dollars in plastic recovery and recycling efforts.

She stated this while speaking during the maiden edition of the Business Day Diswaste conference themed ‘Corporate citizens for clean cities’.

Onyemelukwe explained that the eradication of waste in the country and the world at large through Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste initiative remained an integral commitment for Coca-Cola Nigeria.

She said, “In Nigeria so far, through our World Without Waste initiative, we have recycled over 1.5 billion bottles, and invested over $2m dollars in plastic recovery and recycling efforts.

“At Coca-Cola, our goal is to build better bottles for today and tomorrow by changing how we make them.”

Coca-Cola, she said, recognised there was a global packaging waste problem.

She added, “There is an onus on us as a business to find innovative solutions to tackle this challenge. Through our World Without Waste initiative, we are working hard to ensure the world’s waste crisis is a thing of the past.

“We are working with multi-stakeholder collaborations and seeking to drive, create and accelerate the collection and recycling of our packaging.”

Onyemelukwe noted that ‘Coca-Cola’s world without waste’ initiative had made remarkable strides in its efforts to curb the waste crisis in the country.

This, she noted, had been achieved through the creation of a sustainable recycling model and a circular economy.

As part of its focus on design, she said, Coca-Cola recently changed its Sprite bottle packaging in Nigeria from the green plastic packaging to clear plastic to increase its recyclability.