Nigeria Considers Total Ban on Use of Plastic Bags

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Nigeria may become the next African country to impose total ban on use of plastic bags. All the earlier attempts to do so by the country had gone in vain. The move follows the recent legislations enacted by other regional countries including Rwanda, Kenya and Benin.

Nigeria has announced several timelines to ban plastic bags before. In 2013, the then Minister of Environment had announced that the country would do the needful to phase out polythene bags and promote the use of paper bags. However, even after five years from the announcement, polythene bags continue to remain as the most used and preferred category of bag in the country. Supermarkets and department stores continue to distribute them.

Going one step further, the country’s administration in collaboration with the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) had formulated several laws to protect the environment. These laws prohibit dropping of any litter including polythene bags at public places and other designated areas. However, the country has so far failed to strictly implement these laws, thereby leading to huge amounts of litter.

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Environmental activists and experts blame poor enforcement of laws, mainly due to lack of political will. According to them, shops must stop distributing plastic bags for free. Charging a fee of at least N100 per plastic bag from shoppers would dissuade them from using the bags and encourage them to bring own bags for shopping. As an alternative, super stores need to switch to paper bags, which are proven to cause lesser environmental impacts.

Meantime, Abubaker Kyari, member of the Senate Committee on Environment called for banning plastic bags in phases, rather than imposing a total ban. Further, he also demanded increased investment in recycling infrastructure so as to ensure safe recycling of discarded plastic bags. NESREA too extended support to recycling, highlighting the need for improved collection system.