Nigeria’s plastic waste problem is huge and cannot be ignored. With a population estimated at over 200 million, Nigeria produces about 2.5 to 5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually.
Nigeria has continued to struggle with waste management in general. Specifically, plastic waste management in the country is also in a dire state.
Why is this so? There are many reasons to it. Some include: absence of inventory data, lack of policy, poor regulatory framework, poor public awareness, inadequate recycling facilities, illegal import of poorly recycled plastics and lack of financing schemes, among others.
Speaking to the issue, Professor Percy Onianwa, Director, Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the African Region (BCCC Africa), said, in addition to the above reasons, “No life cycle assessments have been conducted for local plastic products/wastes to provide data on impacts and risk evaluation that could support environmentally sound management of plastic waste.”
Tackling plastic waste in Nigeria
Unlike other materials, plastic does not biodegrade, that is, it does not decompose in the same way that organic materials do. It can take up to 1,000 years to break down. So when it is discarded, it builds up in the environment until it reaches a crisis point.
Plastic pollution is a global problem. Every year 19 to 23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas. This pollution chokes marine wildlife, damages soil and poisons groundwater, and can cause serious health impacts.
Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people’s livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has noted.
In Nigeria, recently, the government committed to tackling plastic wastes. Two important policies on solid waste management and plastic waste management were finalised and approved by government. The solid waste management policy in Nigeria aims to promote a clean and healthy environment for sustainable socio-economic development of the nation. It is also targeted at reducing and eventually eliminating heaps of solid waste in cities and rural communities, thereby enabling the reduction in associated public health problems. The national policy on plastic waste management in Nigeria has set targets to eliminate single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam by 2028 and to ensure that all plastic packaging in the market is recyclable or biodegradable by 2030.
A draft plan of activities for plastic waste management was also validated. These activities included awareness raising, inventory, training of stakeholders, development of standards, establishment of financing schemes, and life cycle assessment, among other national priorities.
Addressing plastic pollution and marine litter requires a new way of thinking that looks at the entire lifecycle of plastics.
Why lifecycle assessment project?
The Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the African Region has embarked on a project titled, ‘Lifecycle Assessment of Selected Plastic Products/Wastes in Nigeria,’ designed to identify the most prevalent and troublesome types of local plastic waste, and conduct life cycle assessment for a number of these plastic waste. This, according to BCCC Africa, will yield valuable data to support further activities on inventory, environmentally sound management, awareness raising, recycling, and so on. This fits appropriately into the Nigeria’s ongoing plan of activities toward sound management of its huge plastic waste problem.
Professor Onianwa of BCCC Africa said, “The objective of the project is to identify the most prevalent, and problematic types of plastic waste in Nigeria, and carry out comprehensive life cycle assessments of selected four of these plastic products and their wastes.
“The assessment will determine the overall environmental impacts of these products, and provide information and appropriate recommendations that will guide and support the environmentally sound prevention and reduction of these plastic wastes.”
He explained to Nigerian Tribune that “The project outcome is comprehensive in terms of generating data relating to the impact on the environment physical, socio-economical and so on with respect to the lifecycle of certain selected plastics.
“Lifecycle assessment, in this context, is what happens to the environment through activities that you carry out in terms of extracting raw materials for the manufacture, manufacturing the product, using the product, and disposing the product eventually – that is a full lifecycle.
“Sometimes the product is not disposed but is recycled. If that is the case, you have to trace the product through its full lifecycle from cradle to grave or back to cradle.”
He noted that when completed the project will provide “lots of information on impacts on different spheres of the environment and also some socio-economic dimensions. This data will be very valuable for decision making and as database for other projects that will need that data, apart from policy issues.”
According to Dr Joshua Babayemi of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and project member, “A life cycle approach also helps addressing potential trade-offs between environmental impacts and sustainability pillars, and can orient the selection of the best solutions for the environment with best socio-economic implications.”
What the project entails
The project has five sets of activities with their respective outputs.
The first set of activities are: To select the plastic products/wastes for lifecycle assessment; determine the amount of the plastic products imported; Compile information on local raw materials extraction and processing for selected plastic products; Compile information on manufacturing/production of selected plastic products; and Compile information on distribution/use/consumption by major sectors. The output is that selected plastic products and their raw materials are identified, evaluated and quantified.
The second activity is to determine the energy and waste discharge associated with production. The output for this activity is for energy inflow/outflows and waste discharges associated with the production to be determined.
The third set of activities are: to evaluate the environmental impacts during production; Assess the waste generated from the use of the plastic products. The output of this third set of activities is for environmental impacts associated with production, use and disposal are evaluated.
The fourth activity is to apply the lifecycle assessment model to the products. The outcome is for the Lifecycle analysis model outputs to be generated and evaluated.
The fifth set of activities is project coordination and monitoring and evaluation.
The project involves a project steering committee comprising experts from BCCC Africa, the Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA). Other experts include E-Waste Producers Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON), Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), and the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
There is also a Technical Working Group involving experts from BCCC Africa, University of Ibadan, Abia State University, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Imo State University and EPRON.
The project is built to run from March 2023 to September 2024. It is a pilot project of the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Partnership (PWP) Programme, proposed and executed by BCCC Africa.
The project, based on its initial findings, focuses on four problematic plastics namely: flimsy poly bags, “pure water” sachet bags, Polystyrene food packs, and drinking straws.
Problematic plastics are plastics that are produced without any intention of being reused. They end up as single-use plastics.
Inception workshop
BCCC Africa, as part of the activities in the project, held an inception workshop on December 19 in Lagos involving stakeholders from the government, private sector and the academia.
Professor Onianwa explained that “The workshop was designed to acquaint stakeholders with the work we are about to do, to make them contribute to the design, to also validate what we have already done and to make it possible for them to support us further as we go ahead with the project.
“From what we have discussed today, we have had promises from different sectors as to how they are willing to work with us and how they will help us get information and all that. We have largely achieved the aim of the workshop. We will find ways to ensure that more stakeholders than the number we have here will become familiar with what the work is about.”
Leslie Adogame, Executive Director, Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria) lauded the project. At the inception workshop, he said, “This project fills a lot of missing gaps in data as far as plastic waste management is concerned. A lifecycle assessment of this nature, even though it is not comprehensive for all plastic products, identifies problematic plastics. The project supports the National Plastic Waste Policy outlook as well as the draft regulation on plastic waste management by NESREA. All the four items identified are on the front burner of the plastic waste management regulation to either be phased down or phased out within a period.”
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