EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBIITY PROGRAMME ON COURSE IN NIGERIA….. FG

The Federal Government says Nigeria has commenced the implementation of the Extended Producer Programme, EPR. Speaking during a virtual quiz and debate for schools to mark the International E-waste Day (IEWD), the Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor Esq, said the programme was intended to ensure the country reaps the gains from e-waste management while safeguarding the environment.
The Minister encouraged industries to form their own Producer Responsibility Organisations to address common waste streams in the context of EPR. “It will provide green job opportunities for our teeming unemployed youths in the e-waste value chain while also transiting to circular economy,” she said.

She went further to state that the choice of “Education” as the theme for this year’s IEWD was to focus on young people, adding that, “it is expected that they will be educated on e-waste issues and in turn bring up a new generation of environmentally responsible consumers, which is expected to rub off on their families, teachers and local communities.”
In his remarks on the occasion, the Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro pointed out that the Agency had developed the necessary regulations and guidelines for EPR implementation in the country.
“NESREA as the enforcement arm of the Federal Ministry of Environment is enforcing regulations that incorporate the Extended Producer Responsibility, which is a framework of action in which any producer of an item is saddled with the responsibility of taking care of that item at the end of its life,” he said.
The quiz and debate competition for schools in the country to mark the International E-Waste Day was organized by NESREA in collaboration with the E-Waste Producers’ Responsibility of Nigeria, (EPRON).
Regan Memorial Baptist Girls School, Yaba Lagos won the debate completion while Oak Springs Hill School Portharcourt took the first prize in the quiz competition.