Experts in the circular economy have said that Africa’s most populous country would only grow its plastic recycling sector when stakeholders across the value chain start working together to achieve a common goal.
The experts who spoke at the Plastic Recycling Stakeholders Forum organized by Lagos State in partnership with the Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria (SEDIN) programme of the German Development Agency (GIZ) held in Lagos recently said that stakeholders across the recycling value chains see themselves as competitors rather than collaborators.
They noted that this has continued to stifle growth in the industry, while calling for a collaboration that must be strategic.
Charles Nnanna, the founder of Kaltani, said that for synergy to work effectively and efficiently, stakeholders across the value chain must be willing to collaborate.
“The reason for the forum here is because the synergy isn’t there,” he said.
“If there was this synergy from waste collector to aggregator, aggregator to the transporter, transporter to the recycler, and recycler to end user, which means the buyer, FMCG operations would be much better and more efficient. However, this is not the case,” he explained.
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Similarly, speaking about the importance of strategic partnerships in the plastic recycling industry, Lucia Onaghise, secretary of the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), stated that collectors, aggregators, and recyclers should stop seeing themselves as competitors, but rather as collaborators.
“If the value chain is to be successful, we must collaborate to be more impactful,” she said.
“We will go a long way in the plastic recycling value chain if we manage what we generate,” Lucia added.
According to a gap analysis on plastic recycling in Nigeria conducted by GIZ, the lack of synergy among stakeholders in the plastic recycling sector limits the growth and efficiency of plastic recycling in Nigeria.
Ibrahim Odumboni, managing director/CEO of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Lagos generates approximately 13,000 tons of waste, with the LAWMA currently cleaning in excess of 12,000 tons. “Every week, all public and private schools in Lagos state teach waste management to raise awareness about proper waste management,” he said.
During a panel discussion about strategic synergy in the plastic recycling value chain, Mariam Lawani, CEO of Greenhill Recycling, stated, “from consumers to policymakers, public, government, waste pickers, all have their roles and carrying them responsibly will go a long way in developing their sector because it’s a large group of stakeholders.”
“Consumers must be made aware of their responsibilities; someone must inform them, and this is where education and sensitization come into play.” Then there’s the need for policymakers, the government, to set implementable policies,” Miriam added.
