1.3m tonne plastic waste in Nigeria – UN study

NIGERIA’S plastic waste has risen to about 1.25 million tonne.

  United Nation’s Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)’s Country Representative and Regional Director for West Africa, Jean Bakole, gave the estimate while speaking during the inauguration of its steering committee for the project tagged Promoting Sustainable Plastics Value Chains through Circular Economy Practices.

  Stressing that consumption of plastics in Nigeria has jumped by 116.26 per cent within a period of 15 years, Bakoleat atttributed the development to increased consumption across the country without deference to recycling by citizens.

  “As the most populated nation with the largest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on the African continent, Nigeria’s plastic waste problem is on the increase.

  This is based on its increased consumption from 578,000 tonnes of plastics in 2007 to about 1,250,000 tonnes.

  Therefore, the per capita plastic consumption has grown by five per cent annually from 4kg to 6.5kg. It is estimated that each citizen would consume about 7.5kg of plastics per year,” he said.