Nigeria is projected to be the largest producer of waste in the world by 2025.

The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) general manager, Dolapo Fasawe, said this on Tuesday during a circular economy workshop in Lagos.

“The truth is Nigeria, by 2025, will be the largest producer of plastic waste. We need to step up our activities in recycling and circular economy. Once plastic is used, it should not just be deposited anywhere,” stated the LASEPA boss. 

Ms Fasawe added, “It can be reused, recycled, and reduced to something else. This is because plastic is not degradable. And when we say economics and plastic, it means that there’s a lot of money that can be made out of plastic waste.”

Oluyomi Banjo, the UNIDO national programme coordinator, said the UN agency was pleased to work with Lagos, one of the biggest cities in Africa, to tackle plastic waste by investing in the circular economy.

Mr Banjo said that achieving a circular economy in Lagos was important because it would set the stage for other states in Nigeria and other regions in Africa.

The UNIDO official added that to achieve the project’s aim, Lagos must develop a plastics action plan on circular economy.

“We will bring everybody together to sensitise them on what circular economy is all about; the benefits to the environment, socially and economically. We will work with the private sector to be more productive and efficient to make more profit,” explained Mr Banjo.

The UNIDO representative also noted that the informal sector would be considered “to see how we can incorporate them in achieving this, knowing that we cannot achieve this without the informal sector.”

LAWMA managing director, Ibrahim Odumboni, said the Lagos government had done a lot in promoting the reuse and recycling of plastics.

Mr Odumboni revealed that LAWMA was partnering Polysmart, one of Africa’s largest plastic recyclers, to convert tonnes of plastic waste into reusable products.

He said the authority was enforcing the policy of adopt-a-bin in Lagos to teach the value of waste separation at source, adding that LASEPA, LAWMA and other agencies had banned single use of plastics in their offices to lead by example.

(NAN)