Nigeria has a huge population. Current estimates put it in the region of 210 million. This is a huge number. There is no prize for guessing that this number of people will produce humongous amounts of waste. The challenge is how prepared are the managers of the economy to deal with the sheer volume of waste generated and ensure effective disposal.
Now, if you have ever wondered why drains are always blocked; dumpsites are created indiscriminately and pollution is the order of the day in many cities across the country, wonder no more. The answer is simply – People. This is the heart of the problem; a large number of people generate large volumes of waste without a discernible plan for proper disposal.
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One thing is clear; Nigeria lacks a proper waste management system. Experts argue that the real problem is a large amount of ‘single-use’ items and products which effectively creates a linear economic model.
The linear economic model involves “take, make, use and dispose of”. Under this model, items once used need to be disposed of and they subsequently end up in landfills and waste sites. The largest open waste site in Africa is situated in Nigeria, in Olusosun, Ojota, Lagos State.
And with the population expected to hit 400 million by 2050, according to the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, the quantity of waste generated annually is projected to continue to increase substantially.
Unless we have a system in place, it is only going to get worse.
Describing the Nigerian economy as linear means raw materials are used to make products, they automatically become waste products and quickly thrown away.
The linear model is defined as the traditional model where raw materials are collected and transformed into products that consumers use and discard as waste with no concern for their ecological footprint and consequences.
Of course, the indiscriminate dumping and burning of waste harm the environment. It pollutes the environment; degrades the quality of air, water and soil and contributes to climate change challenges. It equally affects the health of people, impacting productivity and economic development.
In seeking to effectively control the waste management problem, adopting global best practices in this space makes sense. The current trend is shifting from mere waste management to wealth creation; economic development and an improved environment. This is the emergence of the circular economy.
First, the circular economy grew out of the urgent desire to curtail waste and drive the reuse of materials and waste to create economic value. A practical instance is where waste paper is used to make new paper and discarded plastic containers are used to make new plastic materials and other useful items for construction. The potential here is humongous. It guarantees that there will be enough raw materials in the immediate future to continue to produce these items. This is precisely what the circular economy is all about.
Under the circular economy, production has as little impact as possible on the environment by leaving less of a footprint. To make it sustainable, it must follow these three principles: reduce, reuse and recycle. The principles are three approaches – reduce (minimize the quantity of resource use); reuse (optimized resource use) and recycle (turnaround and put the resource to use again).
There are several ways to achieve this. Experts insist that with this system, value is created by focusing on value preservation.
The real issue is how to ensure that the circular economy works for Nigeria’s 210 million people.
Studies indicate that single-use plastic waste makes up a huge portion of waste generated in an economy. So, policies that ban or restrict the importation, production and use of single-use and all variants of non-recyclable plastics will help precipitate the circular economy.
Eliminating single-use plastic waste from the environment will no doubt curb the clogging of public drains, curtail incidents of flooding and limit harm to the environment.
For a country that urgently needs to diversify its economy, the circular economic model provides tremendous value and opportunities for Nigeria.
Elvis Eromosele writes from Lagos.
