APM Terminals Apapa restates commitment to Go Green Campaign

APM Terminals Apapa, a container terminal, has restated its commitment to ‘Go Green Campaign’, supporting the Army Children Primary School, Apapa, Lagos, with pavement blocks produced from recycled tyres.

The company also paved the school playground.

Its Terminal Manager, Mr Steen Knudsen, in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday, said that this was done as part of its 2023 Go Green campaign.

The Go Green Campaign is based on the belief and cooperative value of ‘Self-Help and Solidarity’.

The campaign manifests that youth and cooperatives can be a part of something greater while sustaining their environment.

Knudsen said that in addition to paving the school playground, staff of the leading terminal operator also planted trees at the school.

According to Knudsen, the annual Go Green Campaign was an initiative of APM Terminals to promote environmentally sustainable activities at its facilities across the world.

He said that the theme of this year’s campaign was “Healthy Ecosystem and Beating Plastic Pollution”.

“At APM Terminals Apapa, we take our responsibility towards the environment, the community and our children very serious.

“Every year, we give ourselves the opportunity of our Go Green Campaign to contribute to a sustainable future for all. We are always happy to give back to the society,” Knudsen said.

The pavement blocks, according to Knudsen, were made out of APM Terminals Apapa’s used tyres by a Nigerian firm named FREEE Recycle Ltd.

He said that APM Terminals recently partnered with FREE Recycle Ltd., in an effort to grow its recycling of used tyres, to avoid those ending in landfills or as medium for trapped water and associated insect borne diseases.

He also explained how trees beautify the environment and help in combating global warming, saying they absorb carbon dioxide, remove and store carbon while releasing oxygen back into the air.

In her remarks, the terminals Procurement Manager, APM Terminals, Mrs Chinyere Adenaike, expressed delight at the school children’s participation in the tree planting exercise.

Adenaike assured the Company’s commitment to protecting the environment.

“Addressing the impacts of plastic pollution requires improved waste management practices, effective plastic recycling systems, public awareness campaigns and policy interventions,” she said

Also speaking, the Managing Director of FREE Recycle Ltd., Ifedolapo Runsewe, commended the efforts of the management of APM for taking the lead in reducing solid waste in the country.

She said Army Children Primary School, Ashanti Barracks, Apapa, was one of the 10 schools selected for the project.

The Head Teacher of the school, Mrs Dorothy Ucheta, and the Education Secretary of Apapa Local Government, Ms Fausat Olawepo, represented by Ms Abosede Olanrewaju, both expressed gratitude to APM for the project.

They also appreciated the terminal for inculcating a useful lesson to the pupils on how to turn waste to wealth.