Polysmart to open Africa's largest food-grade plastic recycling plant in Ogun
- Polysmart Packaging will commission a $60 million food-grade recycling plant in Ogun on October 29.
- The company says the plant will create about 1,000 direct jobs and over 50,000 indirect jobs.
- Polysmart also said it has repaid ₦5.7 billion raised through four commercial paper series.
A Nigerian plastic recycling company, Polysmart Packaging Limited, will on Thursday, October 29, formally commission the first phase of its expanded food-grade recycled plastic plant in Mowe, Ogun State.
The company says the $60 million facility is the largest of its kind in Africa. It will turn used plastic bottles into recycled material clean enough for food packaging.
The plant sits at KM 53 on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, Ileke Town, Mowe. The ceremony is themed “Closing the Loop: Food-Grade rPET and Nigeria’s Circular Economy.”
What the plant will do
At full capacity, Polysmart says the plant will produce 60,000 tonnes of food-grade recycled PET (rPET) a year, plus 20,000 tonnes of other recycled plastics. It is designed to handle up to 100,000 tonnes of used plastic bottles annually.
That volume matters for ordinary Nigerians. Plastic waste blocks drains, worsens flooding and pollutes rivers. Recycling it also cuts the need to import virgin plastic resin.
Polysmart says Nigeria uses about 600,000 tonnes of virgin PET a year. The company projects the plant could save about $72 million in foreign exchange each year by reducing those imports.
On jobs, the company expects about 1,000 direct jobs and more than 50,000 indirect jobs across collection, sorting, transport and processing. It currently runs 25 collection centres in eight states and plans 250 more across all 36 states within two years.
The plant uses sorting and processing equipment from European suppliers EREMA, SOREMA and TOMRA. Polysmart says its processes are designed to meet food-contact standards linked to the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority.
Paying back investors
The commissioning comes days after Polysmart said it had fully repaid ₦5,711,405,308.33 raised through four series of non-interest commercial paper issued between April and October 2025.
The largest series, ₦2,517,997,808.33, was settled ahead of its October 21, 2026 maturity date. Marble Advisory Limited was lead arranger and financial adviser.
Wasiu Bolaji Balogun, managing director of Polysmart Packaging Limited, said the repayments show the company keeps its word to investors.
In a separate statement ahead of the commissioning, Wasiu Balogun, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Polysmart Group, said the investment showed what Nigerian enterprise can build.
“When we started this journey in 2013, many people told us that world-class, food-grade recycling could not be built in Nigeria,” Balogun said.
He credited plastic collectors, employees, partners, financiers and host communities for the achievement.
Government officials, traditional rulers, industry leaders, investors and development partners are expected at the ceremony.
What happens next: The plant is due to be commissioned on October 29. Its success will depend on steady supplies of used bottles, which means more demand for waste collectors and stronger collection networks across the country.
