Nigeria falls among the 30 countries with the worst waste management practice out of 180 countries in the world, according to the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy.

With a score of 12.7 out of 100, Nigeria performed way below average compared with the performances of its neighbours in Sub-Saharan Africa —Seychelles and Equatorial Guinea with scores of 69.10 and 63.10 respectively.

The waste management variable was measured based on three indicators: controlled solid waste, recycling rates, and ocean plastic pollution. The ocean plastic pollution variable also measures ocean plastic pollution as the absolute quantity in millions of metric tons of plastics a country discharges into the oceans in a year. 

Nigeria generates 32 million metric tonnes of waste annually (2.5 million tonnes of this is plastic waste). With an annual growth rate of 2.4%, waste generation in Nigeria will increase in subsequent years. 

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A World Bank estimate put the amount of waste generated daily by each Nigerian at 0.51kg with total waste forecasted to reach 107 million tonnes by 2050.

Globally, the world generates 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, 33% of which is not managed in an environmentally sustainable manner. Open waste disposal is rife in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. More than half of the total generated waste is openly dumped on the streets in these regions. 

Wastes are debris or discarded materials that are no longer suited for their intended use usually derived from different items—food, groceries, electronics, plastics, agricultural and industrial products.

Virtually, every human activity generates waste—industrial and domestic activities. The amount of waste produced is influenced by economic activities, population growth, production and consumption. 

Depending on how it is managed, waste can either make or mar a nation’s economy and environment. Across the world, governments establish waste management regulations to coordinate the use, reuse and refuse of their wastes, Nigeria is included! 

The Law and Enforcement Gap

There are an array of waste management regulations and enforcement agencies both at the federal and state levels established to provide basic guidelines and coordination for the sustainable use of the environment. 

The 1999 constitution (as amended), S.20 under the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy provides that: “The State shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wildlife of Nigeria.” 

In the same vein, Section 21, sub-section 1- 2 of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Act, in the parts related to national environmental standards, states that: 

“The discharge in such harmful quantities of any hazardous substance into the air or upon the land and the waters of Nigeria or at the adjoining shorelines is prohibited, except where such discharge is permitted or authorized under any law in force in Nigeria.” “Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (1) of this section commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding N100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”   

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) is another government’s institution saddled with the enforcement of all environmental laws in Nigeria. 

NESREA has about 24 state offices across the 6 geo-political zones in Nigeria overseeing environmental-related issues. The federal government through NESREA has enacted thirty-five environmental regulations that will serve as a framework for the adoption of environment-friendly practices in environmental sanitation and waste management in the country to minimize pollution. 

Part II of the National Environmental (Sanitation and Wastes Control) Regulations 2009—general cleanliness, provides that: 

1. No person is to discard, throw or drop any litter or any similar refuse anywhere except in designated litter bins.
2. No owner, operator, occupant or person in care, management of control of premises is to allow the release of litter into the environment.
3. No occupant or passenger of any vehicle is to throw or drop any litter onto the streets, roads, highways, public spaces and other undesignated places.

Furthermore, the law states that: It shall be an offence for an owner or occupant in care of premises or in control or management of a business to: 

• release or causes litter to be released into the environment; 
• fails to contain and dispose litter at construction or demolition site regularly; 
• fails to segregate waste for proper management. 

Despite extant laws and regulations on waste management, open refuse dumps are rife in the country. 

From the foregoing, it is not the absence of laws or deterrents that encourages impropriety in waste management in the country but ineffective enforcement mechanisms and strategies. 

In most cities, on the road and in open spaces, waste is the unsolicited new neighbour that reaches out with its stench borne by rotten items that pollute the atmosphere. 

A World Bank report in 2020 shows that only 31% out of the estimated 213 million population in Nigeria use safely managed sanitation. In its most recent data, the World Bank states that the country’s 68.6% mortality rate is attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene.

The Impact of Poor Waste Management on the Environment

This passive attitude to waste management not only endangers public health but predisposes the environment to the effects of climate change. Apart from blocking the waterways, decomposition of these solid wastes emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere thereby intensifying the adverse effects of climate change. This is evident in more frequent cases of floods and flash floods.

In the 2022 Flood reports by National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), 4.47 million persons were affected by the 2022 floods across the 36 states and the FCT. Though attributed to infrastructural inadequacies, and unsustainable use of the environment, improper waste disposal methods are said to have contributed to the incident. Regarded as its worst flood experience, over 2 million persons were displaced and 665 deaths were recorded. 

Nigeria’s poor waste management record adds up to its overall Environmental Performance Index (EPI) where Nigeria falls among the 15 countries with worst environmental performance out of 180 countries in the world.

Given this development, it is obvious that Nigeria has a lot of work to do in its waste management practices. As human activity in the environment increases, the 5Rs of waste management — Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle need to be prioritized for a formidable and livable world.

It becomes pertinent that all stakeholders — government, regulatory agencies, civil societies and citizens deploy new strategies towards land use and adopt sustainable waste management practices as we continue to explore the treasures trapped in nature.