The Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi has unveiled the report on the Gap Analysis of the Solid Waste Management Sector, Database User Guide Manual and National Roadmap on Solid Waste Management in Nigeria.
The minister said the report is coming at the appropriate time due to daunting challenges the country is facing as a result of poor Solid Waste Management.
Abdullahi stressed that Nigeria, with a population of about 200 million people generates about 1.5million tones of plastic wastes every year of which less than 10% is recycled.
“The problem of pollution in the country is exacerbated by inadequate waste management infrastructure, poor behavioral attitude, unskilled waste collection workforce, indiscriminate dumping and burning of plastic wastes, poor awareness, inadequate funding.
He said: “It is against the background that we welcome this Technical Assistance to support the Federal Management Framework on Solid Waste.
“The Technical Assistance is part of a series of actions being undertaken by Government to address the challenges of Solid Waste in the Country in a holistic and sustainable manner, particularly in our quest for alternatives to drive investment in the right direction and support sustainable development objectives to which Nigeria subscribes.
Abdullahi noted that Technical Assistance project which commenced in 2020, has attained all expected deliverables, including the engagement of National and Sub-National stakeholders for effective Solid Waste Management in Nigeria.
“The project has also delivered capacity building workshops for State and Federal level actors on; Waste collection and transportation, Dumpsite Management
Waste Recycling and Recovery, Waste Wise Cities, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Also speaking, the French Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs Emmanuelle Blatmann, said the Implementation of a robust solid waste management will have many positive impact on health, greenhouse, omission reduction, biodiversity and environment as a whole.
“It is also to raise awareness on solid waste strategies in Nigeria.
She stressed that it is also to implement progressive policy, ensuring key steps such as sustainable waste collection and robust solid waste.
