A professor of Electrical Engineering in the University of Ilorin, Yinusa Adediran, has called for enforcement of legislation regulating hazardous waste disposal in the country.
Delivering 188th inaugural lecture of the university, titled, “in the realm of telecommunications, reliability and quality engineering,” Professor Adediran said there is no local or state law that strongly drives proper disposal of spent lead-acid batteries in Nigeria.
The university don, who said that widespread use of lead-acid batteries takes a toll on the environment, added that batteries disposed of in municipal landfills and trash incinerators can disperse a significant amount of heavy metals and other toxic substances into the air and water.
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“Electronic waste has been a source of concern to developing countries because of the health hazards it poses to the environment and, no serious efforts are being made to control the situation in Nigeria.
“Therefore, battery waste prevention and recycling strategies are essential.
“The legislation regulating hazardous waste through the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Environment appears very appropriate, but the enforcement is not there. Attention is rather focused on oil spillage and toxic waste discharges,” he said.
He also recommended that the government should have regulations on lead-acid batteries by looking at other countries’ battery legislations with the plan to have a suitable battery recycling plant or battery waste management.
“Government can use the result of this research to select prefered spent lead-acid battery collection centres.
“Also, manufacturers and importers who supply batteries must be made to pay a prepaid disposal fee that could be used to finance the collection, transportation, and recycling of batteries, as well as to ascertain the extent of provision of information, particularly, for promotion of return of batteries,” he said.
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