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Environmentalist calls for implementation of EPR policy to curb pollution

By Elizabeth ADENUGA

An Environmentalist, Mr Gafar Odubote, has called for the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy to curb the menace of plastic and general waste pollution in the country.

TBI Africa said Odubote, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday, spoke on the importance of implementing the EPR policy.

NAN reports that the EPR policy was introduced by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

The policy seeks to transfer the environmental cost associated with a product throughout the products entire life-cycle to the market price of the product.

According to Odubote, the implementation of the EPR policy is long overdue and its eventual benefit to the country is multifaceted and goes beyond the environment.

“EPR has been in existence for quite a while in developed countries and the Government of Nigeria started discussing about its implementation since 2016.

“The EPR is a laudable approach in tackling the menace of waste and pollution in Nigeria but it is taking time to have it fully implemented.

“The act is aimed at promoting a circular economy that will be beneficial to all and sundry but we are currently far from getting there.

“NESREA as the enforcement arm of the Federal Ministry of Environment in my opinion is not doing enough to bring the policy into full action,’’ the environmentalist said.

Odubote said that sensitisation, creation of awareness on the EPR policy and investment in research was necessary for it to be passed into law.

“The awareness on the existing policy is low while there is an inadequate investment on research and development in generating the appropriate data to support the policy implementation.

“There is a need to provide a level-playing ground for all the stakeholders affected by the programme. The effectiveness of the EPR is yet to be felt in Nigeria.

“The policy is meant to reduce the environmental impact of waste by ensuring they use input materials and packaging strategies that reduce waste generation.

“In essence, if a producer dispatches 50 units of PET bottles in the market, then he is responsible for collection and disposal of 50 units of post-consumer plastic waste and this is not currently working,’’ he said.

According to him, to enforce it, the government must increase its efforts on awareness and stakeholder’s engagement and also bring to book the violators.

Speaking on the benefits of the EPR, the environmentalist said the act would help reduce pollution in our landfills and encourage recycling among Nigerians.

“The EPR will reduce the amounts of materials we send to landfills by making the economy become circular; and this helps the climate condition.

“The government also stands to enjoy because EPR will shift the economic burden of the cost of disposal from the government to the producer of the product.

“EPR helps the environment because it encourages designs that are recyclable, while discouraging the use of toxic components in the product.

“The EPR is a preventive way of avoiding the current problems we are facing with trash in Nigeria,’’ Odubote said.

He noted that EPR would help in preventing improper disposal of plastic wastes because the manufacturers would be responsible in creating the infrastructure to take back and recycle the products that they produce.

“The EPR is advantageous in the sense that it does not reduce the volume of waste generated in the country but rather attempts to reduce the volume of material disposed through land-filling or incineration.

“EPR is only to complement other actions of the government in ensuring a circular economy and, therefore, must not be seen as the sole solution to wastes or plastic solution,’’ the expert said.

 

 

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