Abuja - August 07 (Viewpoint Housing News) – A Civil Society Organisation, the Center for Earth Works, CFEW, and a member of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, GAIA, has described Nigeria’s plastic pollution as one of its gravest environmental challenges.
The Founder of CFEW, Benson Dotun Fasanya who raised the alarm while briefing Newsmen on the sidelines of the post-Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, INC, 2, debrief held last Tuesday, said the Nigerian plastic pollution scenario can only be described as a “Plastic Tsunami”.
According to EarthNews Nigeria, the INC is a five-part process started in Uruguay in 2022. The second was held in May 2023, while the post-INC debrief is aimed at drafting recommendations in preparation for the INC 3, to hold December 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.
“Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the gravest environmental challenges of our time, transcending borders and affecting every corner of the world, according to Fasanya.
He added that plastics, being persistent, toxic, and non-biodegradable, accumulate in oceans, soils, and air, posing severe threats to marine life, biodiversity, and the well-being of humans.
“Every second over 60,000 plastic bags are discarded all around the world. Nigerians discard an average of 600 million water sachets per day and this amounts to about 215 billion plastic sachets annually”, he said.
GAIA in their recommendations are advocating a Just Transition for Identification, Transparency, and Labeling, Reduction in Overall Production of Plastics to close the plastic tap, Ensuring Environmentally Just and Sound Waste Management, Prevention of the importation of plastic pollution and its associated toxic burden.
They are further calling on the Nigerian government to implement a comprehensive plastic trade tracking system. Encourage research and strong policy implementation and to phase out single-use plastics all within the framework of the Global Plastic Treaty which is aimed at developing a globally legally binding plastic treaty to solve the plastic pollution crises
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development, STRADev, Dr Leslie Adogame said people do not understand the impact of plastic in this part of the world as they tend to see the challenges it comes with, from the physical nuisance perspective.
