Polysmart Packaging Limited has said it plans to spend about N60 billion annually purchasing recyclable waste as it expands its operations, highlighting the growing economic opportunities in Nigeria’s plastic recycling industry
The Group Managing Director, Wasiu Balogun, disclosed this on Wednesday during a tour of the company’s facility along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State by a Federal Government delegation ahead of the commissioning of its expanded recycling plant next week
Balogun said the company would require at least N5 billion monthly to purchase recyclable materials from its collection network, adding that the investment would support waste collectors, agents and small businesses across the country
“With the new expansion, we need to employ a minimum of 2,000 agents Apart from the environmental impact, the economic impact is huge,” he said.
The company currently operates 28 collection branches nationwide, including eight in Lagos, with others in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Port Harcourt and Ilorin
It plans to establish an additional 250 branches within the next 24 months as part of a long-term ambition to extend its collection network to all 774 local government areas
“Our intention is to have a branch in every local government in Nigeria,” Balogun said
He explained that the collection model allows households to sell discarded plastic bottles and other recyclable materials to local agents, who supply them to designated centres for processing
According to him, prospective agents need only a small space to operate, making the business accessible to individuals and small enterprises
“To be an agent, what does it require? Just have a small space, two metres by two metres,” he said
Balogun said the company’s digital platform connects households with nearby agents and collection branches, while facilitating transactions and payments
“We discourage cash payments As the price changes, you see the price. When they get to you and they collect your products, money leaves their account and hits your account,” he said.
He added that the platform had created opportunities for more than 4,000 agents, helping to extend recycling activities beyond major commercial centres
Balogun said the expansion was driven by the need to prevent recyclable materials from becoming environmental hazards while converting them into valuable industrial raw materials
“Our aim is very simple: to protect the environment and ensure recyclable waste does not get into the environment,” he said, adding that the company intended to recycle materials beyond plastics
He also identified regulations on recycled content and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as important drivers of investment, saying requirements for manufacturers to incorporate recycled materials into packaging could sustain demand and encourage further investment
The Federal Ministry of Environment delegation welcomed the expansion, estimating that the project could generate at least 10,000 direct and indirect jobs
The ministry’s Director of Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Omotunde Adeola, said the visit was to assess the facility’s readiness for commissioning and evaluate progress on the expansion
She described the investment as an important contribution to efforts to tackle plastic pollution, develop local recycling capacity and create employment, particularly for young people
“We are very happy with what is happening here It is a massive project, an expansion of what has been in place before, and it helps to fulfil the mandate of our ministry in tackling plastic pollution, which is a major problem in the country,” she said.
Adeola said the facility would strengthen local production of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), a material used in manufacturing packaging products, and encourage more industries to incorporate recycled plastics into their operations
She noted that employment opportunities would extend beyond the factory to people involved in collecting and transporting discarded plastic bottles
“From the numbers that have been reeled out, we are looking at nothing less than 10,000 jobs being created at the end of the day,” she said
Adeola expressed optimism that the facility would demonstrate Nigeria’s capacity to process plastic waste locally, while supporting environmental compliance, local industrial development and potential expansion into other West African markets