‘Nigeria Generates 1.1m Tonnes Of e-Waste Annually’

The United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) says Nigeria generates about 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste annually.
UNIDO Country Representative and Regional Director for West Africa, Dr Patrick Kormawa, stated this at a Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop on Electrical and Electronics Waste Management for Nigeria.
“About 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste is generated annually, which is far more than the combined e-waste volume generated by most other countries in the ECOWAS region,” he said.
According to him, statistics has shown that approximately 100,000 tonnes of e-waste illegally enter Nigeria every year through Lagos and other ports in the country.
Kormawa, who was represented by Mr Reuben Bamidele, UNIDO’s National Programme Officer, commended Nigeria for its efforts at implementing treaties on environment to which it is signatory.
Kormawa said UNIDO, in partnership with the Federal Government, had developed and implemented various projects to alleviate environmental problems and also worked with the Federal Government to provide equipment worth about one million dollars to equipment manufacturers in the refrigeration sector.
Deputy Director, Chemical Management, Ministry of Environment, Dr Idris Goji, said in interview with newsmen that Nigeria had taken steps to check the dumping of e-waste in the country.
Goji said one of such measures was the signing of environmental conventions and agreements that are not in conflict with existing national laws.
He said such conventions and agreements included the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.