Published On: April 25, 20232 min read395 words

Background

Plastic litter is a major global environmental problem with its production drastically increased by more than twenty-folds between 1964 and 2015, with an annual output of 322 million metric tonnes, which is expected to double by 2035 and quadruple by 2050 if no action is taken.

Nigeria shares the plastic problem. It is estimated that plastic accounts for 13% of total solid waste. With an increasing consumption from 578,000 tonnes of plastics in 2007 to about 1,250,000 tonnes in 2017, Nigeria is ranked as the 9th top country out of 192 countries having coastlines generating mass of mismanaged plastic waste by the population living within 50km of the coast, accounting to 0.85 million metric tons, or 2.7% of global mismanaged plastic waste (Jambeck et al., 2015). It is forecasted that Nigeria will be the nation producing the largest volume of mismanaged plastic waste in African continent by 2025.

With the funding from the Government of Japan, UNIDO, in cooperation with Federal Ministry of Environment, is implementing a 3-year project entitled “Promoting sustainable plastic value chains through circular economy practices” (2022-2025).

The project has three lines of activities, which interact with each other:

  • Output 1) Support development of implementation guidelines of the national policy on plastic waste management;
  • Output 2) Support to strengthening recycling capacity at target municipalities through reinforcing the value chain system, including provision of necessary equipment and pilot implementation of the guidelines on plastic waste management; and
  • Output 3) demonstration of circular economy and resource efficiency practices, including recycling system and innovative technology, at pilot companies or institutions to showcase their benefits.

This Call for Proposal concerns Output 3, which is implemented in cooperation with Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA). Under the Output 3 activities, private sector based in Abuja and Lagos will be sensitized with sustainable production concepts (circular economy practices, Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP), 3Rs) and selected companies based on this Call for Proposal will be provided with various assistants including rapid RECP assessments, consultation and recommendation for improvement, and acquisition/installation/trial running of new technologies.

Aim of the Project

The project aims to contribute to Nigeria’s inclusive and sustainable industrial development and reduce leakage of plastics to the environment through promotion of circular economy principles and practices to be integrated into effective implementation of plastic waste management and strengthening plastic value chains. It is expected to demonstrate the benefit of adopting circular economy practices and resource efficient production for plastic value chains in Nigeria.