Kunle Adelabu
The Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), on Monday, joined the rest of the World to celebrate the World Environment Day (WED), with the aim of proferring solutions to plastic pollution, which is one of the global environmental challenges.
The commmerative conference, which was held at the institution’s College of Agriculture Main Auditorium, Ikorodu Campus, was themed: “Solutions To Plastic Pollution”, while Prof. Kolawole Raheem was the keynote speaker.
The panel session at the conference held on Monday, discussed on the sub- theme, “Taking Action: Harnessing Innovation to Beat Plastic Pollution”.
This year’s edition of the WEB was the 51st edition since the United Nations General Assembly designated every 5th of June to commemorate the day.
The Vice Chancellor, LASUSTECH, Prof. Olumuyiwa Odusanya, speaking, stated that the theme for the 2023 celebration, ‘Solutions to Plastic Pollution’, implies that plastics are a huge problem to mankind and solutions must be provided to tackle it.
He explained that the broad goal of the celebration is to draw attention of the Global Community to the problem and to firm up actions that will reduce and eliminate plastic pollution.
“In organizing this meeting, our university commits to dealing firmly with plastic pollution and will have a zero tolerance to plastic pollution. We will put in measures to promote recycling, prompt re-use and safe disposal of plastics on all our campuses. We plan to spread the news of reducing plastic pollution to schools and our immediate communities”, he said.
The Keynote Speaker, Prof.Kolawole Raheem, in his presentation, stated that the day is celebrated to encourage awareness and action for the protection of the worsening global environment.
He stressed that Nigeria consumes about 1.250Million tons of plastic annually and that per capital plastic consumption has grown by 5%, adding that the waste are created from non –renewable sources, the most predominant pollution in the world’s waterbodies.
He further explained that the disadvantages of plastic pollution are more than the advantages.
