Nigeria will adopt new regulations aimed at curbing the country’s plastic pollution, particularly from plastic packaging, which is the leading source of plastic waste.

Developed with assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), these regulations will hold companies accountable for managing the plastic packaging they produce and use.

The imminent regulations are a part of extended producer responsibility (EPR), a legislative strategy that has been effective in Europe for over three decades.

EPR laws have significantly mitigated waste from plastic packaging in various countries, and Nigerian officials are optimistic about similar outcomes.

Nigeria National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency director general Innocent Barikor said: “Extended producer responsibility as a strategy shifts the responsibility of waste management to the producers, adopting the polluter pays principle.”

With plastic production and imports escalating over the past two decades, Nigeria’s waste management systems are under severe strain, leading to widespread environmental pollution.

Under the new EPR framework, companies involved in producing, importing, distributing, and selling plastic packaging will be required to finance producer responsibility organisations.

These non-profit entities will be tasked with reducing packaging pollution, which constitutes 63% of the nation’s plastic waste.

The regulations also mandate companies to seek alternative packaging solutions, fund recycling initiatives, simplify recyclability, and include a minimum proportion of recycled content in their packaging.

Nigeria is currently formulating a strategy to enforce these regulations, with UNEP’s support, and they are expected to be operational within the next few months, according to Barikor.

While EPR laws have been in place in some countries for over five decades, addressing various types of waste, studies from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that such regulations can enhance recycling rates, alleviate municipal burdens, and provide consistent funding for pollution control.

France, for instance, has seen a significant increase in recycling rates since implementing EPR laws in the early 1990s.

French producer responsibility organisation Citeo reports that 67% of household packaging and 27% of plastic are now recycled, far exceeding the global plastic recycling rate of 9%.

Despite the benefits of EPR, experts caution that it should be part of a broader policy approach, including phasing out problematic plastics, promoting reuse, redesigning products, and improving waste management standards.