UNICEF Tasks Households, Communities on Disposal, Recycling of Plastic Wast
United Nations Children’s Fund, (UNICEF) has urged stakeholders in environmental management to redouble efforts at combatting climate change by promoting the campaign to dispose or recycle plastic waste.
The UNICEF Chief of Kano Field Office of UNICEF, Mr. Rahama Farah, made the call in Katsina during a plastic waste disposal campaign to mark the 2025 World Environment Day.
The UNICEF team alongside officials from the Katsina State Ministry of Environment led youth including students on a three-kilometer walk from IBB way to Barhim Roundabout in Katsina metropolis where they picked plastic and polythene waste.
Mr. Rahama Farah said the campaign was aimed at mobilizing community action against indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste which pollutes the soil and water with toxic chemicals and contributes to global warming.
“Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats to our planet, over 400 million tons of plastic are produced every year, and much of it ends up in our rivers, oceans, soil, and even our food.
“We conducted a walk through the city to pick up plastic waste from the streets, it is part of the series of activities we lined up to commemorate the World Environment Day and it will be a week-long activity.
“We involved the youths because they are very powerful social agents, we want them to lead the campaign, we want them to raise their voice against the use of plastics because plastic items are contaminating the environment.
“Youths can work with communities and leaders to prevent plastic pollution, they can pass the message, raise awareness and mobilize communities, they can serve as very powerful agents in environmental protection”, Farah said.
He called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to preserve the environment against the harmful effects of plastics through proper disposal or recycling.
“On this occasion, we urge members of the public to say ‘No’ to single-use plastics like straws, plastic bags, and bottles, they should rather use reusable containers for food and drinks.
“We also advise them to pick up litter and dispose of waste properly, school managements should form environmental clubs, people can also be creative by for instance turning waste into art, or writing poems to mobilize public action against plastic pollution”, the UNICEF Chief said.
Similarly, the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilitator for UNICEF in Katsina State, Mr. Atah Samuel-Itodo urged members of the public to limit their usage of plastic items as they do not easily decompose.
“Just within one hour of road walk we were able to collect 43.8 kilograms of plastic waste, these waste materials would have caused harm to the environment in drainages or ended up in our rivers to disrupt marine life, or even in our food.
“Our message is that every member of the society has a role to play in creating a greener, healthier and cleaner environment, people can contribute their quota by picking up plastic waste.
“We should also begin to use alternatives like bottled water containers that can be reused over and over again, instead of one-off plastic bottles and takeaway packs”, he stressed.
In his remarks, the Director Waste Management and Environmental Assessment at the Katsina State Ministry of Environment, Malam Nura Abubakar, who attributed recurring floods to the blockage of drainages by plastic and polythene waste, appealed to members of the public to recycle such waste or dispose them properly.
He noted that the Katsina State government embarks on regular desilting of drainages in major towns in the state to prevent flooding while promoting environment hygiene.
Students and youths from UNICEF’s U-Report team that participated in the road walk pledged to sustain the campaign to raise awareness on the dangers of plastic waste and how to properly dispose it to safeguard the environment.
The theme of the 2025 World Environment Day was ‘Putting an End to Plastic Pollution’.
Isma’il Adamu
