In order to curb the menace of environmental pollution in West Africa’s commercial hub, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency has partnered with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to raise awareness of the circular economy in the plastic value chain.
Speaking during a seminar in Lagos, General Manager, LASEPA, Dolapo Fasawe, said the state was looking to move away from a linear economy to a circular economy.
She noted that the idea of the seminar was to promote the notion that everybody’s waste is someone else’s raw material. She added that moving into a circular economy would improve the country’s Gross Domestic Product and output.
Fasawe said, “Once the plastic is used, it should not just land anywhere; it should be reused, recycled and reduced to something else. This is because plastic is not degradable. When we say plastic economy, it means that there is a lot of money that can be made from this.
“In a study done by the World Bank a few years ago, the cost of not practising circular economy with plastic waste is way above $7bn, just for Lagos State. We are losing $7bn annually.”
On his part, the Managing Director of Lagos Waste Management Authority, Ibrahim Odumboni, said the partnership would consolidate efforts by the state government to comprehensively tackle plastic pollution by boosting the value chain to turn the menace into an economic opportunity.
He said, “What we are having here today is a collaboration between UNIDO and the Federal Ministry of Environment, LAWMA and LASEPA to look at some waste management solutions, especially plastic pollution. We are looking at a holistic review of the sector, to encourage job creation through recycling.
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