MAN Calls for Halt to NESREA Plastic Waste Regulations

Plastic Recycling  |  2026-06-17 06:58:50   |   By

The experiences in Kenya, Bangladesh, South Africa, and India suggest that plastic bans often produce limited environmental benefits, while causing factory closures and job losses.

Summary
  • The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called for a halt to the proposed Plastic Waste Control Regulations 2026.
  • The regulations would ban certain single-use plastics, impose taxes on shopping bags, and restrict various plastic products.
  • MAN argues the measures are premature, citing insufficient evidence and concerns over potential factory closures, job losses, and economic impacts.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called for the suspension of the proposed National Environmental (Plastic Waste Control) Regulations 2026. The regulations could have serious economic and industrial consequences, it warned.

The regulations, proposed by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), seek to ban the production and use of single-use plastic products below 80 microns in thickness, impose taxes on certain plastic shopping bags, and restrict a range of plastic products covered under the Eleventh Schedule.

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MAN Director General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir extended the association’s support to efforts aimed at reducing environmental pollution. However, he noted that the proposed regulations are premature and lack sufficient empirical evidence.

MAN highlighted that many of the recommendations in the Plastic Circularity Roadmap developed by the Federal Government’s National Plastic Action Partnership have not yet been implemented. Furthermore, it stated that previous restrictions on plastic products have not resulted in measurable improvements. The experiences in Kenya, Bangladesh, South Africa, and India suggest that plastic bans often produce limited environmental benefits, while causing factory closures and job losses.