The Embassy of France in Nigeria has completed a €753,000 Plastic Waste Processing Project aimed at boosting recycling, innovation and entrepreneurship in Nigerian universities.

The three-year initiative, implemented under the Embassy’s Fonds Équipe France (FEF) framework, was designed to strengthen plastic waste management through research, innovation, practical training and the installation of recycling micro-plants on participating campuses.

It also sought to encourage students and researchers to develop sustainable solutions to plastic pollution while creating economic opportunities through the circular economy.

Speaking at the closeout ceremony yesterday in Abuja, the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, said the project had demonstrated that environmental sustainability and economic development could be pursued simultaneously.

According to the ambassador, tackling the growing plastic waste challenge requires more than regulations and public awareness, stressing that sustainable progress depends on building viable business models around recycling, waste collection and the reuse of plastic materials.

“Environmental ambition and economic opportunity are not in opposition. They are, in fact, two sides of the same coin,” Fonbaustier said.

He noted that the green economy has become a major driver of industrial transformation, employment and investment, adding that Nigeria’s youthful population and growing technological capacity position the country to take advantage of opportunities in plastic recycling.

Fonbaustier also called for deeper collaboration between Nigerian and French universities, researchers and private sector players, expressing optimism that such partnerships would generate innovative solutions to environmental challenges.

“It is my sincere hope that French and Nigerian researchers will work hand in hand, generating the scientific knowledge and technological solutions that this challenge demands,” he said.

While declaring the project formally closed, the ambassador assured stakeholders that France would continue supporting Nigeria through institutional partnerships, technical cooperation, peer learning and knowledge exchange rather than direct project implementation.

Speaking with journalists after the event, the Deputy Head of Cooperation at the Embassy of France, Pierre Andriamampianina, described the initiative as a remarkable success whose benefits extended well beyond its financial value.

“The return on investment for Nigeria is much more than money. It is also in terms of capacity building, participation and youth mobilisation,” he said.

He said participating universities exceeded expectations by introducing additional activities beyond those originally planned and by integrating plastic waste management into their institutional systems.

According to him, the project encouraged innovation, created employment opportunities and demonstrated that recycled plastics could become valuable economic resources.

Andriamampianina said he hoped the partnerships established under the project would evolve into a wider national network involving more universities, researchers and private sector innovators.

“My main expectation is that this network will grow and take on board several other universities,” he added.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development Services), Professor Afolabi Lesi, said the project had brought practical learning closer to students while stimulating entrepreneurial thinking.

She said the university’s recycling micro-plant would initially produce household and office furniture from plastic waste before expanding into commercial production.

According to Ogunsola, the institution also plans to partner with formal and informal waste pickers to ensure a steady supply of recyclable materials, creating additional livelihoods for surrounding communities.

She added that the project had opened new opportunities for research in environmental engineering, sustainability, environmental science and materials science while inspiring students to pursue careers in those fields.

The vice-chancellor disclosed that the University of Lagos currently diverts an estimated five tonnes of plastic waste from landfills and surrounding communities through the recycling facility established under the project.

She said expanding similar initiatives beyond university campuses could significantly reduce plastic pollution in Lagos, improve air quality and unlock enormous economic opportunities.

Also speaking, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Offiong Efanga Offiong, said the project had clearly demonstrated the commercial value of plastic recycling.

Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Linkages and Collaborations, Professor Anthony Eneji, the VC noted that projections showing participating universities could collectively generate more than N900 million from recycling activities highlighted the enormous economic potential of the sector.

“If we can scale this up to a national level, there are billions of naira to be generated from plastic recycling alone,” Eneji said.

Earlier, the project initiator and former Science and Higher Education Attaché at the French Embassy, Sebastian Bede, who joined the event virtually, said the intervention was conceived to empower Nigerian universities to develop locally driven solutions to plastic pollution.

He said the project supported 13 universities in developing plastic waste management solutions, conducted awareness campaigns across 11 campuses that reached more than 1,700 participants, installed recycling micro-plants and organised practical training sessions combining theory with hands-on experience.

According to Bede, the initiative was not merely about reducing plastic waste but about equipping universities, students and researchers with the knowledge, tools and partnerships needed to sustain innovation beyond the life of the project.

“This project was about plastic waste, but it was also about people, ideas and the future,” he said, urging participating institutions to build on the foundation already laid to expand recycling solutions and strengthen Nigeria’s transition to a circular economy.