NESREA to develop plastic waste regulations

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) is to develop specialised national environmental regulations on plastic waste.

This emerged at the close of the stakeholders’ engagement workshop on Strengthening National Advocacy for the Transposition and Domestication of the Basel Convention Amendment (Plastic Waste Regulations) in Nigeria” held in Abuja.

According to the participants called for a reflection on the new amendments to the Basel Convention and the peculiarities of Nigeria.

The Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, to which Nigeria is a signatory, adopted two important decisions to address plastic waste in 2019 that led to amendment of some Annexes to the Convention in relation to plastic waste.

The objectives of the adopted amendments to the Annexes was to enhance the control of the transboundary movements of plastic waste and clarify the scope of the Convention as it applies to such waste.

The new entries became effective from January 1, 2021, requiring that it is transposed into Nigeria’s national laws since she is a signatory to the Basel Convention.

“This offers an ample opportunity to review existing regulations focused on domestic consumption and production of plastics and also put stringent requirements to deter importation of plastic waste was into the country,” submitted the participants, even as they endorsed the domestication of the Basel Convention as well as the amendment by Federal Ministry of Environment.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) will set contamination limits for plastic waste and consider the range of 0.5-2%, according to the gathering.