Nigeria can generate over N100bn from automotive recycling fees — Reps member

The Deputy Chairman, Committee on Environment, Mr Terseer Ugbor, has disclosed that Nigeria has the potential to generate over 100 billion naira in revenue from recycling fees and inject over 1 trillion naira in value into the Nigerian economy from the automotive recycling sector.

He made this disclosure recently in Abuja during a Stakeholders’ Sensitisation & Advocacy Workshop on End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) and Auto Wastes Recycling Regulation organised by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) to promote international best practices in Nigeria’s automotive sector.

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The Lawmaker stressed that the implementation of the End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) regulation policy will ensure an economically and environmentally vibrant industry in the collection, dismantling, and recycling of valuable materials in the automotive sector in Nigeria.

The Lawmaker revealed that the ELV regulation, which has been passed into law, is to be implemented in collaboration with the National Environmental Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) under the National Environmental Motor Vehicle and Missionaries Assembly Sector Regulations of 2011.

According to him, “With this regulation and the implementation of it, we anticipate that when it is implemented, it will create at least 40,000 direct and indirect jobs in Nigeria in a very short period of time.

“It will also help to recycle over 800,000 tonnes of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and reintroduce them into our automotive manufacturing sector and the industrial sector.

“It will also recycle over 1 million used batteries every year from the automotive sector alone. We’ll also recycle over 2 million used tyres lying across our streets all over the country. We’ll also be recycling millions of litres of used energy oils annually.

“So it’s a multi-billion naira industry, and it’s not something that Nigeria can afford to continue to ignore; and then of course the ultimate goal is to protect the environment from hazards and keep our roads and highways safe and free of abandoned vehicles everywhere,” he explained.

Speaking also, the Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr Joseph Osanipin, emphasised that the purpose of the workshop is to enlighten and educate the public on the importance of the ELV regulation.

“A lot of stakeholders need to know what is expected of them, so these are the reasons why we are putting together this. Everybody, in the value chain, every stakeholder involved has to know the role they have to play and why they play that role, and we have a plan of starting by October this year; we need everybody to be on board before then,” he said.

Listing the advantages of the regulation, Osanipin said, “Number one: for the environment; number two: because it’s going to stimulate the economy; it’s going to generate a lot of jobs; the funds to be generated to the economy through all this, at least in a year, cannot be less than 60 billion naira. That’s why we need everybody to be aware of what is happening and then know what is the expectation.”

Also, the Managing Director/CEO of the Designated Recycling Organisation (DRO), Dr Fyneray Mbata, said the regulation will not only reduce pollution and mitigate the hazards of unregulated vehicle-scraping but also create thousands of green jobs, attract private investment, and generate significant revenue for both federal and sub-national governments through innovative fiscal linkages.

“The ELV Waste Recycling Regulation is more than just a policy. It is a national pathway to cleaner cities, safer roads, greener industries, and inclusive economic growth.

“At the heart of this initiative lies a circular economy vision—one where vehicles are not discarded as waste but reintroduced into productive cycles through environmentally sound practices,” Dr Mbata added.