Nigerian waste recycling and manufacturing company, FREEE Recycle Limited, in partnership with Netherlands-based DeSpray Environmental, has secured a grant from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) to advance plans for a proposed aerosol-can recycling plant in Nigeria.
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‎The funding, secured under the RVO’s DHI Programme, will support the feasibility phase of a project aimed at paving the way for Nigeria’s first specialised aerosol recycling plant.
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‎The move comes against the risks associated with discarded pressurised aerosol cans, which the companies said can pose fire and environmental hazards when they enter conventional waste disposal channels.
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‎The proposed facility will be anchored at FREEE Recycle’s Integrated Recycling and Manufacturing Facility in Ibadan, Oyo State, with the feasibility study assessing the technical, financial, legal and operational requirements for deploying DeSpray’s recycling system in Nigeria.
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‎Under the proposed system, aerosol cans would be crushed in an oxygen-free environment, with the process designed to prevent the release of volatile organic compounds and greenhouse gases while recovering the metal for industrial reuse.
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‎The system would also capture the liquid contents and propellants from the cans. According to the companies, the recovered propellants could be channelled into waste-to-energy applications, including power generation and clean cooking fuel under the FoodFuel community initiative.
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‎Sage Grey Finance Limited is providing financial advisory services for the project, including capital structuring and valuation models.
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‎Managing Director of FREEE Recycle, Ifedolapo Runsewe, said the project would address hazardous waste management in West Africa.
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‎”By integrating DeSpray’s world-class technology into our Ibadan facility, we are addressing a critical environmental challenge, advancing UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and turning historically neglected hazardous waste into valuable industrial raw materials and clean energy,” he said.
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‎Managing Director and Co-Founder of DeSpray Environmental, Mike MacKay, said the partnership would allow the company to adapt its technology to the African context.