The Federal Ministry of
Environment says it has developed a draft policy and strategic plan on the management of electronic waste (e-waste) in the country.
The Minister of Environment, Mrs Laurentia Mallam, said this in Abuja at the Consultative Stakeholders’ Workshop on the Management of Electrical and Electronic Waste in Nigeria.
Represented by the acting Director, Pollution and Environmental Health Department in the ministry, Mr Abdul-Kazeem Bayero, the Minister said the Federal Government was determined to address the challenge of e-waste.
She said “the Federal Ministry of Environment is determined to avert the environmental hazards of ever increasing toxic heavy metal contained in the electrical/ electronic equipment in our environment. So, far the ministry has developed draft policy, guidelines and strategic plan on the management of e-waste which are all awaiting ratification by relevant stakeholders.”
“Furthermore, regulations on the management of e-waste have been prepared by the National Environmental Standard Regulation and Enforcement Agency (NESREA), which has been approved and are in force,” the Minister added.
“Federal Executive Council has restricted the importation of the e-waste into the country because of the hazardous components of e-waste and lack of capacity to manage it an environmental sound manner by the informal sector,“ she stated.
The minister said that Nigeria was a signatory to international conventions and agreements that address chemical management issue.
She said that the instruments were responsible for global success in the management of hazardous waste in everyday life.
According to her, electronic and information technology industry is the largest and fastest growing industry in today’s manufacturing world.
“This industry thrives on rapid technology changes, which lead to accelerated discards of older models. “The discarded older models called e-waste, form a rapidly growing waste stream in the world, with the attendant negative environmental and health impacts. “These e-wastes find their way through legal and illegal imports into countries in Asia and Africa such as Nigeria,” she stated.
“The challenge of complying with stringent environmental safeguards and controls in developing countries; and the economic costs in the developed countries are responsible for adoption of the easier option of exporting e-wastes to developing countries.
“Consequently, most of these e-wastes are shipped to African countries under the guise of second hand or near-end- of life equipment, either as gifts or illegally through the ports,“ she added.
In his address, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Abdu Bulama, said that electronic waste could have been described as loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices.