Town planners seek policy review to curb plastic pollution in Nigeria.
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As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Environment Day, the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (ITP) has urged the Federal government to implement policy interventions aimed at curbing plastic pollution in Nigeria.
The NITP National President, Dr Ogbonna Chime, made the call in a statement signed by the national public relations secretary of the Institute, Dr Jesse Nor.
He insisted that the government must ban the use of it as packaging materials in stores and markets.
Chime lamented that even though plastic pollution has a serious negative impact on sectors like tourism, recreation and water resources management, serious attention is yet to be paid to curbing the dangerous trend.
He reiterate that when plastic pollution is prevented, it will have positive implications on the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, especially on SDG 3, which is Good Health and Wellbeing.
According to him, the implication of effective management of the menace will be positive on SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation, as well as SDG 9 on Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
The statement read in part; “The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) joins the global community in celebrating this year’s World Environment Day, which holds on June 5 every year.
“The theme of the celebration, which is “Beat Plastic Pollution” resonates with the thoughts of the Institute, that waste must be properly managed in order to enhance the livability standard of the Country’s human settlements.
“It has been shown that plastics are resourceful and beneficial to the human system in the areas of packaging, material conservation and energy management. However, in many African cities generation of plastic waste tends to exceed the carrying capacity to manage it. Thus, plastic waste issues are one of the urban crises in contemporary times. For instance, plastic pollution is already threatening hydrological, as well as public health systems.
“It is a known fact that plastic pollution has also had a serious negative impact on sectors like tourism and recreation, water resources management (watershed): drinking, contaminating the food chain, as well as agriculture and food processing value chain. There is also climate risks and other ecological issues, due to non-biodegradable nature of plastics.
“In Nigeria, plastic waste is observed in various cities, towns and villages – contaminating water resources, and littering streets. Plastic waste is even found in foods and drinks, when used for packaging / storage. Plastic waste audit indicates that for a city like Lagos, each resident generates and throw 10 plastic water bottles on a daily basis (UNEP and UN-Habitat, 2020). Plastic components such as bottles, sachets, polyethylene bags are also found in landfills, waterways, and in the oceans”.
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