Kayode Tokede 

As part of efforts to promote environmentally sustainable household products, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas, recently inaugurated an optimized system house for the production of ozone-friendly polyurethane used in rigid foam manufacturing at Vitapur Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, in Lagos.

In his keynote address, the Minister  highlighted that under Stage I of the Hydrochlorofluorocarbon Phase-Out Management Plan (HPMP) Project, the Ministry, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), facilitated the upgrade of Vitapur’s system house.

This upgrade supports the formulation of a climate-friendly methyl formate-based pre-blended polyol, serving as an alternative to the ozone-depleting HCFC-141b-based polyols traditionally used in rigid polyurethane foam production.

Hestated that the successful implementation of the project included the provision of trial chemicals, equipment, and accessories such as blending tanks, smoke detectors, sounders/flashers, electrical control panel accessories, and the enhancement of Vitapur’s laboratory with new furniture and advanced equipment like flash point testers, titrators, and k-value testers.

In his welcome remarks, Chairman of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Zakari Sada, emphasized that the project demonstrated the value of collaboration between industry stakeholders, international organizations like the UNDP, and the Nigerian government. Sada urged the Minister to support policies that encourage private sector investment in sandwich panel production across all six geopolitical zones in the country and reaffirmed the company’s full commitment to advancing the goals of the project at all levels.

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