Environment expert and President of Waste Management Association of Nigeria (WAMASON), Professor Oladele Osibanjo, has urged policy makers in Nigeria to adopt the circular economy noting that its principles are native to domestic African lifestyles of old.
Speaking exclusively to Ecoscope over the weekend, Professor Osibanjo, said in several instances, what is considered a bye-product or waste product in an industry could be a raw material for another industrial process.
He said that currently, Nigerian manufacturers and industrialists are throwing away a lot of valuable things. Recalling the history of the African home front, the professor said that mothers of old always found ways to reuse materials. “In those days, our mothers did not just throw food away. When they had eba left over from a previous meal or the previous day, they will just add hot water and more garri to it and mix the whole thing together to make a fresh meal.”
In his opinion, if such had been the practice in time past, contemporary industrialists should not find circular economy principles too alien to adopt.
The President of WAMASON also spoke of efforts to reduce waste by reusing and recycling that are being established globally and locally. Looking at efforts to beat plastic pollution in Nigeria, he said, “NESREA has made a regulation on what we call Extended Producer Responsibility. What this does is based on polluter pays principle. The manufacturers of packaging materials are now responsible for managing used plastic.
“For example, the Food and Beverages Industry have formed a recycling alliance under Coca-Cola. So, they have to organise how they will collect all the plastics and packaging and recycle them.”
He said a similar thing was happening in the electronics industry. According to the professor, Dell, HP and a host of electronics manufacturers had created an alliance that will purchase electronic waste from consumers for recycling purpose.
He concluded that these initiatives in the electronics and beverage industries “will create more jobs and the environment will be cleaner.”
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