Environmental Checkers LTD team and Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission representatives following meeting at Abuja in November 2021.
Ongoing project for a turn-key recycling plant with a capacity of 2 Tonnes per hour.
Informal waste picking – AKA scavenging – is specialised work fraught with health and safety hazards. In this regard waste pickers are vulnerable: likely to suffer eye irritations, respiratory, and skin diseases brought on by particulates released through volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Other risks are lacerations or cuts from broken glass, bottles or sharp objects, including jabs from discarded hypodermic syringes. At ECL, we are inclined to think informal waste pickers provide invaluable economic, social and environmental benefits. Unequivocally, a better deal or arrangement is most urgent.
Did you know it takes more than 100 years for one End-of-Life Tyre (ELT) to biodegrade? Each year 10 million or more ELTs pose a direct threat to Nigeria’s economy, public health and safety. Given their void space, ELTs dumped in landfills are subject to trapping methane gas, which can cause them to become buoyant and rise to the surface. Besides taking up much space, ELTs are difficult to compact in landfills and have been known to damage landfill liners, which ought to prevent leachate from polluting nearby soil, surface or groundwater reserves. When stockpiles of ELTs are left outside uncovered during the rainy season they collect rainwater. These ELTs become ideal receptacles for breeding Anopheles mosquitoes, which ultimately will transmit malaria. Moreover, though studies demonstrate that the unregulated incineration of ELTs contributes directly to increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into Nigeria’s atmosphere, it is not uncommon to see ELTs being used to roast meat in many abattoirs across the country. This has led to the elevated concentrations of heavy metals in meats.
If the trash is made of plastic, cut it with a saw, knife, or scissors into pieces small enough to fit in a trash bag and dispose of it with the rest of your waste material. In the event that the trash is a bottle, you may opt to use the 3-R principle: Reduce, Recycle, or Reuse.
This aspect is largely a function of local law. In many climes or advanced countries, littering in public is an offence. If you see someone littering or performing an illegal dumping act, you can report to your local authority, which can investigate and take action. In the case of illegal dumping, your chances of success are maximised when you are able to produce hard evidence of the illegal act. This could be achieved by using a phone or camera to capture images or video. In this regard, be discrete or cautious.
A citizen’s arrest is an arrest effected by a private citizen rather than the typical arrest made by a police officer or in this context, a sanitation officer. Citizen arrests are lawful in certain limited situations, such as when a private citizen personally witnesses a violation and then detains the offender. Effecting a citizen’s arrest has some grey areas and is therefore best executed by someone with a proactive orientation or disposition.
Recycling benefits every community and the environment. Recyclable items include used tyres, newspapers, magazines and mixed paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, rigid plastic products, metal containers, including tin, aluminium, electronic appliances, steel cans and even food waste.
Energy conservation can be as simple as turning off lights or appliances when you do not need them. You can use energy-intensive appliances less by performing household tasks manually, such as hang-drying your clothes instead of putting them in the dryer or washing dishes by hand.
Environment-benign products are sustainable market-oriented products with significantly reduced negative externalities, i.e. product development processes structured in a way that considers impacts on the environment throughout their life cycle. Classic examples include furniture from recycled materials, cloth napkins, cloth or cotton shopping bags, recycled fabric clothes, rechargeable batteries, reusable water bottles, solar phone chargers etc.
A good starting point is that civil society is maturing. Presently, society’s expectations are considerable and reflect a paradigm shift in the geopolitical landscape since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Post Rio, many businesses recalibrated, focusing on how best to merge economic efficiency with environmental excellence to ensure sustainable economic growth while consuming the world’s resources and protecting the environment without compromising the needs of future generations. In this regard, eco-efficiency was adopted, combining environmental and economic performance to create more value for business and, crucially for communities – with less negative externalities.
Importantly, social and environmental issues are inextricably linked – each deserving equal weight, particularly so given the human and natural resources management challenges. In the scheme of things, the nexus between scientific knowledge and meaningful policy formulation cannot be ignored. Previously, science and policy were considered distinct disciplines set apart by communication gaps and diverging interests. Lately, the importance of scientific knowledge in policy processes has been virtually undisputed. More significant progress is therefore needed in communication at the science-policy interface.
