The Director General of the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Prof. Innocent Barikor, has stated categorically that investments in the circular economy value chain have the potential to increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

Barikor asserted during a meeting with the management of a plastic packaging recycling (rPET) company, Sonnex, in Lagos, saying, “We are deeply committed to ensuring the success of the Circular Economy in the country.”

He assured the team that the federal government would prioritise the circular economy, explaining that the National Environmental (Plastic Waste Control) Regulations developed by NESREA is one of the efforts to strengthen the legal framework for circular economy implementation in Nigeria.

“The policy falls under the Presidential priorities for the Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Minister is very keen on the success. Apart from tackling the problem of waste, green jobs have been created,” he added.

“The pellets and flakes you produce and export also generate foreign exchange. The Plastic Waste Control Regulations are awaiting official gazette, and once gazetted, we would have connected the dots of the framework to implement the circular economy in the plastic sector.”

Earlier, the Managing Director of the firm, Anil Mohinani, appreciated the NESREA boss for the process involved in producing recycled PET bottles (rPET) and highlighted the challenges faced by investors in the sector.

He listed some of the setbacks, including a lack of a legal instrument to compel manufacturers in the food and beverage sector to adopt food-grade rPET, unfriendly policies by some foreign companies, and insufficient awareness.

“Europe and America create barriers to protect their international recycling business. There is unfair competition.

In some countries, such as Kenya, there is encouragement to invest in rPET recycling because there is a regulation in place,” he added.