According to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nigeria’s annual 2.5 million metric tonnes of plastic waste has the potential to generate wealth and jobs if properly and sustainably managed.

Mrs Ozofu Ogiemudia, Chair of the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit (#NES29) Technical Sub-Committee, stated this in an address at the pre-29th Nigerian Economic Summit (Nes29) webinar with the theme ‘Waste-to-Wealth: The Plastics Value Chain’.

“Which could generate various by-products safe and efficient for consumers including wrapping of food, disposable bottles, microbeads in body washes and a variety of other packaging or in products, because it is versatile, cheap, and convenient,” Ogiemudia said.

According to her;

Nigeria is one of the largest consumers of plastics in Africa, stating that the country imported an estimated 20 million tonnes of primary plastics and plastic products between 1996 and 2017, and this is projected to reach 40 million tonnes by 2030 while Nigeria generates some 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, some of which end up in the sea.

Similarly, the Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Kunle Salako, represented by the Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, Prof Aliyu Jauro, stated that recycling is the primary solution to plastic waste.

He also stated that gaps in plastic waste control, such as a lack of identifiable information and the cost of establishing collection points, prevent Nigeria from fully utilizing the potential of the plastics value chain.