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At Centenary Bank, monitoring and recycling our solid waste is at the top of our sustainability agenda to ensure our waste is repurposed or properly disposed of to avoid polluting the environment.
COMMENT | EMMANUEL OTUKO | This year’s theme for World Environment Day 2025 – “Beat Plastic Pollution” is a call for collective action to tackle plastic pollution. It is a rallying cry for individuals, organizations, industries, and governments to make decisive, sustainable choices that reverse the damage caused by plastic overuse.
Governments all over the world, with no exception of Uganda, are taking steps to integrate circular economy approaches to reduce plastic waste, promote recycling, and encourage sustainable alternatives.
At Centenary Bank, monitoring and recycling our solid waste is at the top of our sustainability agenda to ensure our waste is repurposed or properly disposed of to avoid polluting the environment. Whilst institutions like Centenary Bank have a great role to play in advancing sustainable practices, individuals too must proactively transition to sustainable practices. To do this, some key questions need to be answered: How do we as Ugandans aim to become a recycling society? How can we minimize the use of single-use plastics? How can recycling be made a stable and profitable venture?
It is important for institutions to critically look at their role in the supply chain of plastics. For example, as a bank, we may not be a producer of plastic, but we consume it in our payment cards, packaging, supplies, and daily bank operations. This makes us a critical player given our footprint of operation, hence the need to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste. We also have a task to champion digital banking as a plastic-free solution by promoting digital services like mobile banking, e-statements, and cardless transactions as eco-friendly alternatives.
Recognizing the importance of promoting responsible living, we are actively engaging staff and customers through various donations and initiatives aimed at encouraging proper waste management within our communities.
Beyond our unwavering resolve to beat plastic pollution, we are also involved in a number of sustainable initiatives, such as greening initiatives where we have partnered with the National Forestry Authority, communities, non-governmental organizations, and local authorities to grow over 40,000 trees in 2025, reaffirming our commitment to environmental restoration. Trees are not only vital carbon sinks but also help in stabilizing soil and preventing floods, among other things.
Plastic pollution is multifaceted, and tackling it requires a multisectoral and multistakeholder approach. However, with several collective actions, the benefits are immense. Therefore, achieving change requires a mindset change to question convenience culture, drive innovation, and impact communities and future generations.
World Environment Day is a reminder that systematic change begins with intentional steps, from governments setting policy to banks embedding sustainability at every level of operation to individuals making mindful everyday choices.
We are proud to be part of Uganda’s journey towards a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable future.
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Emmanuel Otuko, the Sustainability Manager at Centenary Bank,
