How The Coca-Cola Foundation is helping to pay children’s school fees with plastic bottles
Ideas are a dime a dozen, but it’s the innovations that drive change and provide real solutions to real problems that get remembered and commended. The Coca-Cola Company is undoubtedly the biggest beverage company in the world, with operations in 200 countries across all continents. Another unmistakable fact is the company’s largely recognisable footprint across all the countries within which they reside, through The Coca-Cola Foundation.
For decades, Coca-Cola has sought to operate sustainably and in an environmentally responsible way. The commitment was so strong that the company imprinted this mission in its DNA, and this naturally translated to the company thinking up ways to ensure that these ideas permeated their surrounding environment as well. Following years of reducing plastic waste in its surrounding environments, Coca-Cola fully cemented its commitment to the cause with the World Without Waste programme.
Naturally, there are NGOs around the world who take on the responsibility to rid the world of plastic waste inventively and Coca-Cola made it a mandate to identify, recognise and upscale their capacity. One of such organisations is the African Clean Up Initiative (ACI), an environmental organisation committed to environmental sustainability through environmental clean-up projects, education and advocacy programs. In 2019, they commanded our rapt attention when the media caught wind of their innovative efforts to proffer solutions to two problems in Nigeria: environmental wellness and access to education in rural communities.
Through the Recycles Pay project, parents could pay part of their children’s school fees by turning in plastic waste. According to the ACI CEO, Alex Akhigbe, the project “has improved parents’ payment of school fees and it teaches the children how to manage their waste and promote a cleaner environment.” This idea is indeed the first of its kind in Africa and it was so innovative and socio-economically relevant, that it caught the attention of several outlets and media organisations such as the BBC and eventually, The Coca-Cola Foundation.
Following months of fact-finding, the company rewarded ACI’s important innovation by awarding a grant worth over $100,000. The grant will pave way for the Recycles Pay Project to reach about 20 new schools across the country and impact the lives of 2000 children across various schools in the country. This project is not only in line with Coca-Cola’s vision of a World Without Waste, but it also toes the line of another vision of the company which is to make education accessible to all communities across the world.
Coca-Cola’s first involvement in the project was on February 7, 2020, at Isrina Schools, located at Ajegunle, a popular area in the country, known for its heavily restricted access to a high quality of life. Through The Coca-Cola Foundation, the Recycles Pay project will be extended to many more low-tuition schools across the country to reach and impact the lives of as many children as possible.
