- The paved pedestrian walkway of recycled tyres in front of the terminals’ administrative block in Apapa
By Anthony Nwachukwu
As part of its contribution to reducing the harmful effects of industrial waste on the environment, the APM Terminals Apapa has started recycling its used tyres into re-useable pavement blocks for exterior flooring.
Disclosing this, Terminal Manager, Mr. Steen Knudsen, said that studies had shown that the recycling of tyres helped to reduce the effects of harmful chemicals on the environment, and also prevents tyres from becoming breeding grounds for disease-carrying pests like mosquitoes, which cause malaria.
According to Knudsen, “with all the rolling equipment that we have, we use a lot of tyres annually and are at the moment running a pilot where we recycle used tyres and compress them into pavement blocks. It can be used for paving different areas of the terminal where we have pedestrian traffic.
“It is quite an interesting project and it is in partnership with a recycling facility located in Nigeria, the Freetown Waste Management Recycle Ltd., where we send our tyres for recycling into pavement blocks.
“The recycled tyres, now pavers, can be easily laid on concrete floors, removed and recycled again in the future, which I think is quite nice.”
So far, 40 square metres of the pedestrian area of the terminal has been paved using recycled tyres, while the final goal is a total paved area of 580 square metres, he added.
Knudsen reiterated the commitment of the company’s management and staff to a policy of “environmental excellence” with respect to its business activities in its ongoing efforts to remain environmentally responsible.
In line with that, the company recently announced the replacement of single-use plastic water bottles with refill bottles and water dispensers, thereby eliminating an annual waste of 408,800 single-use plastic bottles at the terminal.
In same vein, the Country Manager of APM Terminals Nigeria, Klaus Laursen, said that the company takes its responsibility on the environment very seriously, insisting: “We owe that to ourselves; we owe that to our kids, and we owe that to the future.”
APM Terminals – the largest container terminal in West Africa with an investment of over $438 million in equipment, has continued to introduce innovations to help shipping lines and land customers achieve improved supply chain efficiency, flexibility and dependability in a cost-effective manner.
