*Innocent Barikor, Director-General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, restates the Nigerian Government’s commitment to tackling increasing threat of toxic plastics and electronics while boosting the circular economy

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

The Federal Government of Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to tackling the growing threat of toxic plastics and electronics while boosting the circular economy in the country.

绿帽献妻 reports

Innocent Barikor, Director-General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) stated this Tuesday, May 20, 2025, during the inception workshop for the Circular and Persistent Organic Pollutants-free Plastics in Africa project, organised by NESREA with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme, in Abuja, FCT.

Barikor said the overarching objective of the workshop was to strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration towards eliminating POPs in plastics and promoting circular economy principles in Africa.

The Director-General also explained that the workshop would address the environmental challenges posed by POPs in plastic materials in Nigeria.

He further noted: 鈥淧OPs are carcinogenic and mutagenic, causing cancer, genetic mutations, neurological damage, reproductive problems, and immunological disorders.

“Exposure to POPs has severe long-term health consequences.

“POPs disrupt ecological systems, threatening aquatic ecosystems and human health.”

The NESREA Chief said: 鈥淢any chemical additives used during plastic production to provide the finished plastic products, like plastic housing units of electronics, with unique properties, including plasticity and fire retardancy, are classified as POPs.

“A typical example is polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

“These chemicals are toxic, chemically stable, and readily accumulate in the environment and living organisms.”

Barikor explained: 鈥淭hese toxic substances represent a silent crisis, accumulating in our ecosystems, permeating our food chains, and posing severe risks to human health and biodiversity when end-of-life plastics from electronics are not properly managed.

“As Nigeria鈥檚 apex environmental regulatory agency, NESREA recognises both the gravity of this challenge and the tremendous opportunity this project presents for gradual and systemic change.鈥�

According to him, Nigeria鈥檚 focus on the electronics sector under the project is particularly strategic.

He noted that Nigeria, over time, has emerged as a regional hub for electronic goods in West Africa, with all the attendant responsibilities, advantages, and disadvantages it entails.

He said that while electronic products bring economic benefits, they equally pose environmental risks, just as POPs could be released at various stages, from production to disposal.

The Director-General stated: 鈥淭his project thus provides us with the necessary tools, resources, and partnerships we require to transform this sector into a model of environmental responsibility and circular economy principles.

鈥淭he journey we begin today will be comprehensive and multidimensional. In NESREA, we understand that effective environmental management requires more than just regulation and enforcement 鈥� it demands innovation, collaboration, and sustained commitment.”

Barikor added: “It is expected that this project will enable us to strengthen our regulatory framework while building on existing legal frameworks and policies such as the National Environmental (Electrical/Electronics Sector) Regulations, 2021, and the National Policy on Plastic Waste Management.

鈥淏ut beyond regulation, we will also focus on capacity building, working with stakeholders in the plastic value chain to implement best practices in POP identification and management,鈥� he emphasised.

Also in his keynote address at the event, Balarabe Lawal, Honourable Minister for Environment, said the project was an opportunity to reduce the import, production, and use of POPs in plastics-containing products, and the generation of unintentionally-produced POPs, with their attendant burdens of pollution and morbidity in the country.

Lawal, represented by Yunus Abdul-Ganiyu, also averred that the project would help to identify safe, eco-friendly, and effective alternatives to POPs-containing plastics as well as suitable technologies to manage POPs-contaminated waste in an environmentally sound manner; adopt and enforce upstream policies and financial instruments to implement circular economy practices and eliminate or replace problematic products with more sustainable alternatives.

The Minister stated that managing POPs and plastic pollution requires joint efforts from all sectors.

He, therefore, expressed optimism about the diverse and experienced stakeholders involved in ensuring the project鈥檚 success.

Lawal said: 鈥淲hile plastics have brought undeniable benefits to modern life, in the absence of an effective waste management strategy and circular economy system, more than three-quarters of scrap plastics get discarded and dispersed in open dumps, burnt, clog the drainage system and ultimately discharged into the marine environment as microplastics.

鈥淚n the same vein, a range of additives, containing hazardous chemicals, such as some POPs are used in an array of different plastic products to enhance their properties.”

The Minister also noted: 鈥淗owever, a body of scientific evidence has revealed that POPs remain intact for decades, accumulate in the environment, and are released throughout the lifecycle of these plastics, harming human health, the environment, and the economy, with adverse impacts on plastic circularity, as contaminated materials cannot be safely reused, recycled, or reintroduced in the value chain.”

He, nonetheless, said the project represented a critical intervention to address the challenges in Nigeria.

Kindly Share This Story