VisionScoop Issue 1

AUGUST 2017 EDITION

Welcome to the First Issue As a new era of environmental awareness is dawning, we are thrilled to bring you the first issue of VisionScoop, our very own internal newsletter.

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@earnfortheearth

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As we put this together, we were very much inspired by one of our core values – our people. And for our team, this is what the inaugural issue came to be about. We have focused on you and all the hard work (and play) that you have put in on this journey.

Over the course of the next few months we look forward to your great ideas and feedback. If you are interested in being a part of VisionScoop, contact us at comms@visionscape.group.

A very special thanks to all the talented contributors in this issue. Enjoy!

Team at Ogudu Depot

INDUSTRY NEWS

VISIONSCAPE NEWS

Medical Waste to Energy

The Journey So Far...

It's been eight months since we opened our doors in preparation for the kickoff of our Lagos operations. Since then, our rapidly growing team has had a great start working and learning from each other. There are irreplaceable benefits that we have gained from the diversity and the various points of view of every member of our team. From synergising with all local regulatory agencies and our new environment, to uncountable visits to the landfill, and opening our hearts through our Earn for the Earth initiative, to the arduous nights of Operation Deep Clean; our journey so far, even though in its infancy stage, has been enlightening, enjoyable and marked with significant milestones.

Here are 5 things we are most proud of on our journey so far:

collection project handled by a single company!

3) Earn for the Earth – Earn for the Earth focuses on improving the lives of waste pickers. Working often informally in hazardous conditions, struggling to achieve respectable livelihoods and access to finance, health care and education for

Aemerge RedPak, a Untied States based medical

their families. E4E offers waste-pickers the

waste firm, has launched its first 'Virtual Landfill'

opportunity to be integrated into the waste

facility, geared towards treating all medical waste

management value chain hereby gaining a sense

streams. The Virtual Landfill technology works on

of occupational identity. We hope that our

the companies' patented Carbonizer® process

support will help to not only create a lasting impact

and is asserted to convert medical waste to clean

on this marginalised sector of societies, but also

power.

pave the path towards equal economic opportunities and entrepreneurship in the communities we serve.

Aemerge RedPak aims to deliver a safe and accessible treatment solution for all medical waste streams. Their patented Carbonizer treatment system is approved by the California

4) No rest for the wicked! – With most major cities

Department of Public Health (CDPH), Medical

having reached critical levels of waste and actively

Waste Management Program (MWMP) and the

1) Green is the new black! – We consider

looking for solutions, our expansion into emerging

governing air quality management district, for the

ourselves a workplace where fun and social

markets could not be at a more appropriate time.

treatment of all types of medical waste, servicing

environmental responsibility go hand-in-hand.

The startup phase for the Nigerian market has

the State of California in their transfer stations and

From our eco-friendly LEED certified office at the

been most interesting. Committed to turning

off-site treatment facilities.

Heritage Place, to our facilities, and our hard-to-

Lagos into one of the greenest and cleanest cities

miss trucks on the roads, which gives an

on the map, we have introduced an efficient and

enormous sense of pride to be associated with

integrated solid waste management solution that

when we spot one on the road – we are literally and environmentally painting the city green.

2) The Visionscape Lagos project is a bold and

will cater to 22 million residents.

The Carbonizer converts any organic waste stream into both clean energy and profitable material co-products with low air emissions. All the scrap metals are recycled, and up to 90% of treated medical waste from traditional landfills is

5. We have a purpose – From flash flooding, to

diverted. Its processing system is designed to

contaminating our ground water, to the spread of

process organic waste in a negative pressure, no

groundbreaking initiative – Visionscape's

diseases and lost opportunities, we have all come

oxygen environment with high-heat, the

public-private partnership with the Lagos State

to understand the negative impacts that come in

technology has been hailed as the best available

government, under the Cleaner Lagos Initiative,

hand with poor solid waste and wastewaste

technology for processing carbonaceous waste to

management.

date.

is arguably the world's largest municipal waste

VISIONSCAPE SPOTLIGHT

FEATURE

Eye on...

Operations Department The operations department have been working hard to get us ready for our Lagos launch. Operations is one of the major functions – if not the core – of our organisation and it involves management of both the strategic and day-to-day operational activities.

After a successful soft launch, the operations department have been working extremely hard to iron out the kinks in our operations with the dry run phase, facility development, bin deployment and day-to-day process. With the flag-off of Operation Deep Clean on July 1st, the team have done a great deal of work and have cleaned over 250 locations! Here is a cheers to the Visionscape Operations Department!

Empowered landfill miners at Epe Landfill

CSR: Earn for the Earth The Earn for the Earth (E4E) Epe Landfill programme was an eye-opener for most of the new members of our team here at Visionscape. It was relevant that the conditions that the Epe landfill miners faced were extremely poor in regard to sanitation; in addition to the fact that they were exposed to intolerable conditions, with poor ventilation, noise, odours, harsh weather, wastewater, and disease-causing animals.

Landfill scavenging, also known as waste picking and modern day gleaning, is the informal extraction of recyclable and reusable materials obtained from mixed waste, usually found at landfills. These waste pickers collect discarded waste materials and add value to them by sorting, cleaning, and altering the physical shape, or by combining materials to make

HR Manager, Ibrahim Fearon educating on the importance of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

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commercially viable products.

Most of the waste pickers reside on the landfill, living and going about their daily routines with very little or without any personal protective measures; in addition to no provisions for clean water, cleaning and personal hygiene. These conditions, and the nature of their occupation, exposes them to potentially pathogenic bioaerosols, which can lead to the spread of various diseases and illnesses.

The E4E programme not only gave the Visionscape team a first-hand account of these conditions, but also helped the team fully understand why we initiated the E4E programme and incorporated it into our business strategy as part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR).

At the E4E Epe landfill programme, personal hygiene was emphasised, aiming to boost their health and environmental literacy, by sensitising the scavengers in matters of health and safety while doing their jobs. We also distributed the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE's) and Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) to the landfill miners.

The day was eventful, engaging, and informative.

Photos of the Operations team during various activities.

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BETTER LIVING

LIVING GREEN

Work-ercise

Three R's of Waste Management

Regular exercise and a healthy diet leads to several benefits, including increased energy, happiness, health and even prolongs life. Sometimes, it is hard to find the time to exercise, as our time is engrossed with work, the commute, errand and everything else we have on our plates.

Keeping your body active is vital, here are some easy workercise routines you can incorporate into your workday. These moves are designed to get you off your duffs.

The 3R’s a guide suggested for creating a sustainable life and lessening the native effects of waste management. The 3R’s the order of priority of actions to be taken to reduce the amount of waste generated, and to aid and improve overall waste management processes and programs.

RAISE THE ROOF! (20 reps)

HALLELUJAH (20 reps)

AIR PUNCHES (20 reps)

While marching in place, push toward the ceiling with your palms up and thumbs almost touching your shoulders.

Make it harder by holding water bottles.

Sweep your arms above your head and down again as you step side-to-side.

Yelling ''Hallelujah!'' is optional.

While rocking foot to foot, punch with alternating arms.

To reduce elbow stress, try not to fully straighten your arm. Avoiding standing close to your co-worker.

Here are simple ways you can incorporate these principles in your daily life.

1. Reduce: the first essential step is to consume only a limited number of essential resources.

2. Reuse: the next step is to reuse.

Reusing your old things, even for just

You Are What You Eat!

a little longer, plays a major role in reducing the waste you produce.

WHOLE-WHEAT JOLLOF SPAGHETTI

3. Recycle: the third step, and the

Prep. Time: 5 Minutes

Method

Cook Time: 40 Minutes

1. Place a pot on your stove and put on

Serves: 4

medium heat, add in your oil and heat up for

Ingredients

most popular, is to recycle. By collecting and processing discarded

1 minute, then add in chopped onions and fry

materials and turning them into new

until translucent.

products, makes a big difference in

· 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2. Add in the tomato paste and bay leaves;

the way we consume and its effects

· 2 Maggi cubes

stir-fry for about 3 minutes then add in the

to the earth.

· ½ cup sliced onion

Maggi cube, thyme, curry, pepper and salt,

All you need is to bring a small

· 3 tablespoons tomato paste (puree)

then mix.

change in your daily lifestyle to

3. Add 3 cups of water to the pot, cover and

reduce the waste you produce, so

· 1 tablespoon each curry and thyme · 2 bay leaves · pepper – to taste · Salt – to taste · 375 grams whole-wheat (brown) spaghetti · 4 cups sliced carrots

bring to boil.

4. Add in the pasta then reduce the heat to low-medium. Cover and leave to cook for 15 -

less is sent to the landfill, reducing your carbon footprint.

20 minutes or until pasta is cooked through.

5. Stir in chopped your carrots then remove

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the pot from heat and stir.

6. Remove and discard the bay leaves to serve.

When it comes to healthy living, what you eat matters more than how you burn it off; yes, fitness will help you achieve your goals faster, but what you eat amounts to 70-80% of weight management. This column has been designed to showcase healthier options and alternatives for our everyday foods.

www.visionscape.group

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HEALTH & SAFETY

PEOPLE MATTER: A word from HR Increase Your Workplace Productivity With These Tips We've compiled the best tips to boost productivity at work.

1) Eat that Frog!

The inspiration for our first tip comes from the bestselling book by Brian Tracy. There's an old saying: If you eat a live frog first thing each morning, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that it's probably the worst thing you'll do all day. The activity you are dreading the most is probably the one you need to complete first thing in the morning.

Complete your most dreaded tasks first thing in the morning.

2) Stop multitasking.

Multitasking is a productivity killer.

Multitasking impairs your ability to remember information. It delays project completion and lowers the quality of the finished product. Instead, dramatically increase productivity by focusing on one task at a time and give it your full attention before moving on to other tasks.

Stop, Drop & Roll!

In light of our recently implemented weekly Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) meetings, a main focus this month was fire drills and what to do in the case of a fair.

Stop, drop, and roll! Not a hip-hop j a m , b u t a s i m p l e fi re s a f e t y technique taught across the world.

The technique involves three steps a fire victim should follow in the event their clothing catches fire to minimise injury.

1. Stop – The fire victim must stop, ceasing any movement which may fan the flames or hamper those attempting to put the fire out.

2. Drop – The fire victim must drop to the ground, lying down if possible, covering their face with their hands to avoid facial injury.

3. Roll – The fire victim must roll on the ground in an effort to extinguish the fire by depriving it of oxygen. If the victim is on a rug or one is nearby, they can roll the rug around themselves to further extinguish the flame.

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3) Prepare a to-do list for the next day each night.

To-do lists are invaluable productivity aids.

They get you organised, provide you with focus and boost productivity. Making (or updating) a to-do list each night means that you won't waste time at the start of the workday looking for your task. Talk through your to-do list for the next day with someone - preferably an accountability partner like your line manager or colleague.

It forces you to think through the tasks and explain them. Keep your list simple and focused.

Cellphones and tablets are a common distraction. Avoid the temptation to check unrelated social media pages and websites/blogs during working hours.

5) Morning check ins with team members.

Checking in with team members for 15 minutes sessions every day helps identify the crucial goals for the day and gets everyone on the team on the same page and also allows your teammates to highlight where they need assistance.

6) Set a time-limit on meetings.

Meetings tend to expand to fill the time you give them. You will probably find that you can get as much done in a short and focused meeting as in a long and unfocused one. Be sure that all participants know when the meeting begins and when it ends.

Begin on time and end on time.

7) Get To Work Early.

An empty and quiet office often means fewer distractions. Arrive at work an hour earlier than your start time before coworkers begin to flood in. Co-workers are one of the biggest distractions. Decreasing the number of people around you will help to increase your productivity.

4) Eliminate distractions.

We are prone to distractions because our brains are wired to respond to every sensory input. Keep anything with a screen that's not being used for work out of sight.

Our Core Values: People We value all people. We create a work environment that builds and sustains lasting relationships with people in the communities we serve. We build our organisation from within, therefore we firmly believe in investing resources into the personal and professional development of our workforce. We appreciate diversity, encourage personal initiative and idea sharing, and value the unique perspective that everyone contributes to the success of the company. We treat all people with dignity and the utmost respect always.

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MEET...

EVENTS

Full Name: Yusuf Olakunle Alimi Meaning: Yusuf is Hebrew, I don't know what it means Role: Team Lead, Technology, Planning Department Since: 16th May, 2016 Q. What's your first impression of Visionscape?

A. Yes! Finally found something that fits my career goals.

Q. What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?

A. Learning new things and processes.

Q. How do you balance your career at Visionscape and family?

A. Well, I don't have a family of my own yet, so I guess there isn't much of a balance to be struck. My mom however complains of not seeing me enough as I'm in the office most weekends.

Q. Tell us something that might surprise us about you.

A. I'm almost a genius Q. What is the one thing you cannot resist?

A. A vacation Q. What has been the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?

A. Mistaken Identity, that's all I can say Q. If you could be any one for a day, who would it be?

A. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid AlMaktoum Q. If your house was burning down, what three items would you take with you?

A. I'm not a sentimental person so probably the box containing my certificates.

Q. Where is the best place you've travelled to and why?

A. Istanbul. It was the most amazing experience. Fantastic markets, amazing people, beautiful historic structures.

Q. What is your greatest fear?

A. Leaving this world without an impact.

Q. What have you always wanted to try, but never did?

A. Skydive over Waialua in Hawaii.

Earth Day: This year's Earth Day, held April 22nd, focused on environmental and climate literacy, where Visionscape hosted planting and painting activities for primary school kids.

Q. What is the greatest challenge you have had to overcome in your life thus far?

A.I still haven't achieved it yet, I feel like I'm not doing enough always. Not learning enough, not developing enough, not doing enough.

Q. How has Visionscape helped you in your career development?

A. I have picked up so many skills and learnt a lot in my short stay here from people to processes and interpersonal/interorganisational relations. I am sure these are qualities that will continue to help me as I progress in my career.

Q. If you could switch your job with anyone else within the organization, whose job would you want?

A. The Chairman's of course!

World Environment Day: WED 2017, held June 5th, theme was connecting with nature, where V isionscape sponsored a beach clean-up in Elegushi, Lekki

Q. What three words would you use to describe Visionscape?

A. Futuristic, Family, Fantastic.

“

No work is insignificant.

All labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

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“

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ogudu Depot Launch/CLI Soft Launch: The Cleaner Lagos Initiative kicked off July 1st, where Visionscape launch the phase one implementation scheme for the Lagos State CLI roll out, which the opening of the Visionscape Ogudu Depot. www.visionscape.group

BIRTHDAYS

PHOTOS: Journey so far

Area Manager Induction

Strategy Meeting with CEO, John Irvine

Pot Painting on Earth Day

Site Survey: Badagry

Celebrating International Women’s Day

Visit to Ministry of Environment

IT Infrastructure Planning at Simpson TLS

Area Manager Training

Beach Clean Up, World Environment Day

Black Spot Cleaning - Dry Runs

GREEN HUMOUR

New Employee Induction Sessions

For any enquiries: comms@visionscape.group

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Operation Deep Clean Fleet

New Employee Induction Sessions

Bin Distribution Begins

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