Background
Nigeria generates over 32 million tons of solid waste annually of which about 40% are Plastics. Indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste and its unregulated production and use in Nigeria is fueling a serious environmental and health crisis in the country. With no policy in place to regulate the use of plastics, Nigerians are daily exposed to threats to life by plastic waste which has been found to contain a chemical substance, dioxin, that the World Health Organization (WHO) says causes cancer. While most countries in Africa like Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania etc have launched various initiatives to combat plastic wastes, Nigeria has not done much in this regard. In 2009, Nigeria law makers considered a bill to prohibit the use of plastic bags, however, the bill is stocked as there have not been further reading of it and therefore, it has not been enacted into law. Given the population of Nigeria, the amount of plastic bags produced daily in Nigeria is huge. Consequently, plastics, particularly plastic bags, are indiscriminately used with no control. Due to their inexpensive production cost, plastic bags are produced in large quantities, often designed to be single-use and given out in large numbers. When improperly disposed, as is often the case, plastic bags cause pollution. They litter terrestrial and aquatic environments, endanger wildlife and domestic animals, clog drains and sewers, and cause flooding. Thus, in Nigeria, pollution by plastic bags is a major environmental and public health problem. A walk along the streets in Nigeria after a downpour offers vivid evidence, often, wastes predominantly made of plastic debris accumulate in drainage, forcing water into buildings and creating pools on highways. Asides the traffic disruptions that result, there is also damage to public and private property. Considering the failure of the Government to address this big problem, civil society organizations (CSOs) have been the major drivers of the National effort to address this issue. However, majority of the CSOs focus primarily on educating the citizens about the danger of plastics without any immediate solution.
