In realisation of the urgent need to meet the best global practice on the effective usage of plastic waste, Ogun State Government said it would not tolerate dereliction of duties by recycling centres and industries operating in the State which might lead to plastic pollution.

         The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Engr. Rasak Ojetola made this known in a statement to mark 2023 World Environment Day with the theme: "Solution to Plastic Pollution with hashtag # Beat Plastic Pollution”, noting that Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration was committed to reducing, reusing and recycling plastic wastes for job creation and growth of the economy.

       Engr. Ojetola stated that the State government encouraged the establishment and licensing of recycling centres across the State, as well as regulating the activities of recycling plants as a way of finding solutions to plastic pollution.

        He said, ”these efforts by the government have yielded positive results as the majority of plastic wastes which would have led to plastic pollution have found their way to the recycling centres and plants spread across the State with residents making economic gains’’.

        The Permanent Secretary added that the stride had reduced plastic pollution which would have arisen through plastics dumped at drainage channels, canals and rivers with its unpleasant effects on environmental and aquatic bodies with negative consequences on human existence.

          According to him, ’’there is the need for urgent and collective action as the scourge of plastic pollution has become a visible threat that impacted every community around the world with more than four hundred million tonnes of plastic products produced every year worldwide with less than 10 percent of them recycled, which adversely affects the ecosystems across the globe from the highest mountain peaks to the depth of the ocean floor.

          He appealed to residents to join hands with the Ministry to continue to have credible solutions to plastic pollution in compliance with the theme of the Day.