As part of NMSI’s activities to mark World Environment Day on the Côte d’Ivoire Hospitals Programme, important contributions were made towards Target 12.4 of Sustainable Development Goal 12. SDG 12 ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’, aims to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. Within SDG 12, Target 12.4 aims to “achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimise their adverse impacts on human health and the environment”.
The UN’s World Environment Day this year, on 5th June, was hosted by Côte d’Ivoire in partnership with the Netherlands. World Environment Day puts a spotlight on the pressing environmental challenges of our times and this year the global theme was plastic pollution. Plastic waste and pollution is a big problem in Côte d’Ivoire, as it is around the world. 288 tonnes of plastic waste are produced each day in Abijdan alone and only 5% of that waste is currently recycled (UNICEF, 2019).
To mark World Environment Day this year NMSI organised a company wide campaign of activities to raise awareness around the issue of plastic pollution. On the Côte d’Ivoire Hospitals Programme, this consisted of awareness sessions with workers across the different sites on plastic waste and the importance of appropriate disposal. At the Kouto hospital site, using spare wood from the site and natural paints, a local artist was commissioned to create a signboard to mark the occasion. The site teams also took the time to carry out a clean-up of plastic waste both inside and surrounding the site. NMSI is taking concrete actions to exemplify leadership on plastic waste management and is contributing to the cultural change required to transition to a less plastic-dependent economy
