In a bold show of its commitment to environmental sustainability and a cleaner Lagos, Rite Foods Limited, Nigeria’s leading food and beverage company, has removed 40 tons of plastic waste from the city during the global Plastic Free July campaign.
The initiative was powered through its multi-award-winning Riteonthebeach project in partnership with Pop Beach Club, a renowned Lagos eco-resort, and with the support of the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As part of the campaign, Rite Foods activated vibrant community engagements at Ikeja City Mall and distributed over 30,000 recovery bags to residents, enabling them to collect and recycle plastics. This large-scale mobilisation builds on the company’s consistent clean-up exercises aimed at curbing plastic pollution and promoting a thriving circular economy.
Seleem Adegunwa, Managing Director of Rite Foods Limited, noted that employees also played a hands-on role by sorting and returning plastics, recovering 288kg of post-consumer PET bottles and saving the environment 293.76kg CO₂ equivalent emissions in July alone.
“This result reinforces our belief that collective and consistent actions yield lasting impact. Riteonthebeach is not just a project—it’s a lifestyle change that supports Lagos State’s vision for a sustainable, clean, and healthy environment,” Adegunwa stated.
Echoing this, Ekuma Eze, Head, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability, stressed that Rite Foods takes full responsibility for its product life cycle, from consumption to proper recycling.
“Our Plastic Free July campaign showed that sustainable solutions are possible when communities, companies, and governments work together. Every bottle recovered is one less hazard to our waterways, biodiversity, and climate. Plastic isn’t the problem—improper disposal is. Through Riteonthebeach, we’re leading the charge for sustainable solutions,” Eze said.
Highlighting the broader impact, he added: “By keeping plastics out of our waters, we protect ecosystems and unlock recycling innovations that transform waste into valuable products.”
Pop Beach Club convener, Akin Disu, explained that the partnership has already resulted in the recovery of thousands of tons of plastics from Lagos shorelines. Beyond clean-ups, the collaboration is creating jobs and educational opportunities by enabling shoreline communities to exchange collected waste for recycling—while proceeds fund back-to-school programmes for underserved children.
Rite Foods, recently crowned ‘Food Company of the Year 2024’ at the prestigious Independent Media Awards, continues to refresh Nigeria with a diverse product portfolio, including 13 Bigi Carbonated Soft Drink variants, Bigi Premium Drinking Water, Sosa Fruit Drink (five flavours), Nigeria’s No. 1 Fearless Energy Drink, and the much-loved Rite Spicy Beef and Bigi Beef Sausage Rolls—all produced in its world-class facility with state-of-the-art technology.