Photo caption: The Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria, Mr Olivier Thiry, ably assisted by Mrs. Adetola Wosilat Onisarotu, a Director in Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) planting a tree in the premises of Promasidor.
Promasidor Nigeria has reiterated that it would continue to maintain a healthy environment by keeping to standards in line with best practices.
The Head Legal and Public Relations, Promasidor Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Enahoro, made this assertion during an interview in Lagos where he stated that Promasidor has been keeping to regulations on healthy environment, and that it is very essential for businesses to adhere to environmental laws in order to thrive and also for the benefit of people living within that locality.
Enahoro stated that in order to achieve a healthy environment that is free from pollution, there is need for collaboration between organisations and government on ways of making the society safe for living despite the threat of global warming.
He said Promasidor’s efforts in keeping its environment free from pollution and other health hazards has endeared the company to its host community in Isolo where it operates.
This was as a result of the giant strides it made to ensure compliance with the state environmental regulations and standards, thereby contributing to carbon reduction in the environment through mitigated measures against global warming and climate change.
Also, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Olivier Thiry, explained that the food company will not relent in adhering to environmental regulations as stipulated by government at federal and state levels.
He stated that in pursuit of a greener environment, the company has before now, installed equipments that are eco-friendly in its premises and this has eliminated health risk to people in its locality.
It has put in place facility on solar energy which generates electricity from sunlight and can be fed into the main electricity supply of the organisation. This has greatly helped the organisation in reducing noise level from the use of generating sets which are used to complement the epileptic power supply in the country.
This is in line with what is widely practised in other developed economies, where private organisations are meant to generate some percentage of the required power for the production and delivery of their products and services.
This does not produce any pollutant and is one of the cleanest sources of energy. In comparison, solar energy promotes the essence of keeping the environment green in compliance with regulations from government.
Other efforts of the company in compliance with healthy environment include the change from diesel powered to gas powered forklift machines; improved waste management plan through waste sorting. Others are the use of wind powered extractor fans; conversion from conventional to eco-friendly air-conditioners and the conversion from diesel powered / PHCN plant to gas powered plant.
The change from diesel to gas powered forklifts has helped in reducing the dangers from diesel exhaust. Some of the health hazards averted ranges from irritation of the eyes and nose, headaches and nausea, to respiratory disease and lung cancer caused by air pollution.
Similarly, in order to avert pollution of the atmosphere and to maintain good health standard for the people of Isolo community, Promasidor Nigeria has adopted a more suitable waste management plan through waste sorting.
This hygienic method of waste management has helped in maintaining a healthy environment as it involves a process whereby waste is separated into different elements, depending on its substance.
The company stated that it is a better approach because waste ending up in landfills produces leachate and landfill biogas that contaminates the water people drink and the air they breathe in. Biogas contains mainly methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 percent more powerful than carbon dioxide (CO2).
It further affirmed that the management of waste through the sorting process shows how much it has the interest of people within its locality at heart.
Also, the use of eco-friendly air-conditioners in place of conventional ones that are very noisy has reduced the noise that would have been generated from these equipments. The units are designed and manufactured with materials that are safe for the environment.
While the typical air conditioners release emissions from fluorocarbon refrigerant, these eco-friendly units installed by Promasidor Nigeria uses hydro fluorocarbon refrigerant which does not have adverse effect on the ozone.
When these units are no longer usable, they are more easily broken down without adding to non-biodegradable trash because they are not made up of dangerous materials.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government and LASEPA have expressed their gratitude to Promasidor for not only believing in an eco-friendly environment but also living it.
The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, through a representative during one of the tree planting campaigns, said Promasidor’s gas generators, wind powered extractor fans, and solar energy street lights are worthy of emulation by other organisations.
Corroborating the Lagos State government, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, LASEPA, Engr. Adebola Rasheed Shabi, reiterated that sustaining the sanctity of the environment through commitment to tree planting must be a collective responsibility. He said as the lung is very essential for good quality and healthy lives so are trees essential for the sustenance of healthy environment.
On the environmental benefits of tree planting, Shabi said they can reduce air temperature by blocking sunlight and lead to the conversion of water to air vapour, a chemical process that removes heat energy from the air.
He said trees help settle out and trap dust, pollen and smoke from the air. The dust level in the air can be as much as 75 percent lower on the sheltered side of the tree compared to the windward side.
According to him, the evaporation from a single tree can produce the cooling effect of 10 room size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day; can improve the efficiency of your heat pump by shading it with a tree; and can shade hard surface areas such as driveways, patios, building and sidewalks thus minimising landscape heat load.
He stated that tree planting exercise fostered by Promasidor has preserved the environment to a large extent as the evergreen trees can be used to reduce wind speed and thus loss of heat from homes in the dry season by as much as 10 to 50 percent; can reduce soil temperature and soil moisture loss; can store pounds of carbon each year; help settle out and trap dust, pollen and smoke from the air; absorb carbon dioxide and potentially harmful gasses, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, from the air and release oxygen.
They can help reduce surface water runoff from storms, thus decreasing soil erosion and the accumulation of sediments in streams. They increase ground water recharge and reduce the number of potentially harmful chemicals transported to our streams.
