KEY POINTS
- Recycling programs reduce waste and create economic opportunities in Nigeria.
- Initiatives like RecyclePoints and WeCyclers drive community participation in recycling.
- Expanding infrastructure and raising awareness are essential for scaling these efforts.
Some of the major problems of this country are associated with environmental issues, with waste management and pollution being among the biggest issues. Nigeria produces over 32 million tons of waste per year.
A meager part is recycled while the rest finds its way into our landfills or even pollutes water ways. Thus, recycling programs can be found more and more as a successful and environmentally friendly solution which creates new opportunities for economic growth.
These programs are adding positive value to the future of this country, because they create awareness for environmental conservation, encourage employment opportunities, and enhance circular economy.
The growth of recycling programs in Nigeria
There is increased interest in recycling in Nigeria, and different levels of government policies for recycling and private sector innovations are being implemented.
RecyclePoints, the Geocycle that belongs to Lafarge, and WeCyclers are some the companies at the forefront of collecting, processing, and transforming waste resources.
RecyclePoints encourages people to recycle by offering them points that can be used to purchase items in their homes or from local service providers making it a community based system of waste management.
Likewise, WeCyclers work with communities in Lagos to collect door to door the recyclable products and focus on the low-income communities which has no access to a proper waste management system.
The government has also made strides in promoting recycling through the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), which enforces waste management policies.
Some state in Nigeria like Lagos state introduced the Blue Box Program which entails a curbside recycling whereby residents sort their waste by separating them into a box labeled Blue box to enable them to put their recyclable materials in that box.
Such attempts have the primary goal of decreasing the use of dumpsites and increasing the rate of recycling of material that can be repurposed into useful products.
Environmental and economic benefits
Recycling programs contribute significantly to environmental sustainability by reducing pollution and conserving natural resources.
In places such as Lagos and Abuja, the level of plastic waste that makes up the urban litter index is relatively high, hence can block drains in the event of rains, causing floods.
New opportunities of these plastics’ usage as tiles, furniture and construction materials allow to minimize risks for the environment and avoid the escalation of the problem with landfills.
In economic aspect, recycling programs are giving jobs, and encouraging the business persons, entrepeneurship.
The recycling sector in Nigeria has the potential to generate thousands of jobs, from waste collection to processing and distribution.
The various Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involving in the recycling sector are creating employment to youths and women hence eradicating unemployment and at the same time boosting economic growth.
Additionally, repurposed materials reduce the need for raw resource extraction, supporting the development of a circular economy.
Challenges and the way forward
Nevertheless, challenges continue to arise concerning recycling programmes in Nigeria.
