The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Japan have collaborated on a project to manage plastic waste in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Federal Environment Ministry, the Japanese Embassy in Nigeria, and UNIDO have signed a $2.8 million agreement.
The three-year project is based on the findings of the UNIDO 2021 Study on the Plastics Value Chain in Nigeria.
Its goal will be to promote circular economy principles and practices, as well as to strengthen plastic value chains, with a particular emphasis on the recycling sector.
“The project will develop national and state implementation guidelines for Nigeria’s National Policy on Plastics Waste Management, strengthen recycling value-chains in selected municipalities in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, and demonstrate technology for circular economy and resource efficiency practices,” said UNIDO Nigeria director and representative Jean Bakole.
The project is the result of a long-term collaboration between UNIDO and the Nigerian government, which has been working on plastic pollution reduction efforts since 2013, and with the Japanese government since 2020.
It also adheres to the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision, which seeks to eliminate additional marine plastic litter pollution by 2050 through a “comprehensive life-cycle approach.”
The agreement is part of Japan’s Marine Initiative, which was launched to help accelerate action on the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision.
