IN one other daring transfer to redraw the local weather change narrative, Lagos State has taken the lead once more by giving a brand new deadline on plastics use. That is after Lagos gave a deadline of January to ban single-use plastics within the state. This must be reviewed because the deadline may pose an enormous problem to the implementation of the coverage.
The federal government stated the ban would come into full implementation by January 2025. It’s a laudable initiative contemplating the deleterious results of local weather change, however it’s too sudden for all involved.
Early in 2024, the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu banned using polystyrene (Styrofoam) within the state.
Single-use plastics are disposable plastic merchandise which are usually used as soon as earlier than being discarded. These embody Styrofoam plates and cups, straws, cutlery, and plastic baggage (particularly these lower than 40 microns thick. These supplies take 500 years to degrade, inflicting long-term injury to the atmosphere.
Lagos generates between 13,000 and 15,000 metric tonnes of waste each day, with a major quantity coming from SUPs. The ban goals to cut back plastic air pollution, which clogs waterways, diminishes air high quality, and poses well being dangers to residents and the ecosystem.
Research present that microplastics have been discovered within the human bloodstream, proving the hazards plastics pose to well being.
The federal government stated the ban is a crucial step towards addressing local weather change, bettering waste administration, and guaranteeing a more healthy atmosphere for present and future generations.
The situation is grim. Lagos grapples with poor hygiene behaviours and indiscriminate waste disposal habits by residents. Stories state that Lagos generates 870,000 tonnes of plastic and loses N7 billion yearly managing waste. Right here, used plastics are unhealthy optics: on roads, gutters, and estates, they create an eyesore. Drainage networks are sometimes clogged as a result of reckless disposal of non-biodegradable gadgets; roads and markets are littered regardless of the perfect efforts of the Lagos State Waste Administration Authority.
Though the ban on Styrofoam meals containers started in early 2024, the upcoming 2025 ban will prolong to different SUPs like straws and skinny plastic baggage.
The state stated it had initiated public consciousness campaigns, with the federal government urging stakeholders and residents to search out options to SUPs.
Seeing the challenges posed by SUPs to the atmosphere, it’s commendable that the state authorities has determined to make this daring transfer.
The one concern is that the federal government didn’t give sufficient discover earlier than the ban, as it’s the greatest world follow when the federal government is about to implement a defining coverage that impacts companies.
The environmental impression of plastics is daunting. The UN Surroundings Programme states that there are about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste yearly internationally; 36 per cent of these are single-use plastics, and 96 per cent of single-use plastics are produced from fossil gasoline.
Microplastics discover their means into streams, rivers, and the ocean, disrupting the marine ecosystem; poisoning, choking, ravenous, and killing marine life and seabirds. Between 79 and 199 million tonnes of plastics are dumped into oceans worldwide. This ultimately poses a hazard to the customers of fish and different marine animals.
In Nigeria, customers of sentimental drinks discover it simpler to get these in PET bottles not like these in glass bottles.
Whereas this can be a good transfer, it’s going to take some time for residents to get used to this modification, and the federal government should see this as a possibility to assist manufacturing firms discover native, pure, and wholesome options to polystyrene and single-plastic bottles in meals packaging. Paper, leaves, cans, bioplastics, and glass bottles are viable options.