Environment experts and activists have listed measures to address the plastic pollution crisis in Nigeria. The experts who spoke at the web launch of the Plastic Atlas (Nigeria Edition), organised by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Foundation called for creative and sustainable measures to tackle the menace of plastic pollution and its long term effects on the environment. An environmental activist and developmental consultant, Kofo Adeleke, who spoke at the launch said that one way to manage the plastic crisis in Nigeria is by separation of waste from the source.
Earlier on in his opening remarks, the Head of the Abuja office of Heinrich Boll Stiftung, Jochen Lucksheiter, said that the Plastic Atlas publication was adapted to fit into local peculiarities. Mr. Luckshiter lauded the Nigerian government’s efforts in the regulatory sphere, which he said was anchored on holding companies accountable for the plastic crisis. However, he revealed that the most crucial message in the publication is that the ultimate solution is to prevent more plastics from entering the market in the first instance.
One of the authors of the publication and senior lecturer in the Department of Chemical Sciences, Anchor University, Lagos – Dr. Joshua Babayemi, called for a detailed inventory of all the plastics in Nigeria to enable policymakers to take the right decisions based on the maxim of managing what can be measured.
On his part, the Director-General, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Professor Aliyu Jauro noted that sensitising citizens on plastic waste management is an integral part of the Agency’s response to the plastic crisis. He therefore called for the more efforts to be devoted to enlightening citizens to understand the dangers posed by plastic pollution. Other stakeholders at the online event called for a ban on single-use plastic. The consensus among participants was that Nigeria cannot recycle its way out of the crisis menace. Experts therefore warned that not all plastics could be recycled, and that even in advanced and industrialised countries like Germany, recycling could on take care of 10 percent of plastic waste.
