The Nigerian Economic Summit (NESG) has said Nigeria imports an estimated average of 952,380 plastics and plastic products annually from different parts of the world.
Chair of the technical sub-committee of the 29th NESG Mrs Ozofu Ogiemudia said Nigeria is one of the largest consumers of plastics in Africa, stating that the country imported an estimated 20 million tonnes of primary plastics and plastic products between 1996 and 2017. “And this is projected to reach 40 million tonnes by 2030,” she said. Ogiemudia reiterated that the high volume of plastic use in the country points to the importance of considering the effects it may have on people and the environment.
Ogiemudia disclosed this during pre NES29 summit webinar on harnessing Nigeria’s plastics value chain of the NESG on Tuesday, September 19th, 2023, with the theme “Waste-to-Wealth: The Plastics Value Chain.”
According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), how plastics are produced, used, and disposed of pollutes ecosystems, creates risks to human health, and destabilises the climate.
UNEP said plastic waste flows into the ocean at about 11 million metric tonnes annually, harming marine life and damaging aquatic habitats. Nigeria generates some 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, some of which end up in the sea. Doing nothing will accelerate the annual flow of Plastic into the ocean, which is expected to nearly triple by 2040 to 29 million metric tonnes per year, equivalent to 50 kg of Plastic per metre of coastline worldwide.
Speaking on harnessing human capital and creating jobs for sustainable economic transformation through supportive policies and regulations, minister of state, environment, Dr Iziaq Kunle Salako said the accumulation of plastic objects including multilayered packaging, electronics, healthcare, clinical and pharmaceutical sectors dumped after use has a severe impact on the environment, biodiversity and human health.