MOVING SOLID WASTE MGT.

INTO
THE 21ST CENTURY IN NIGERIA
A presentation by

Ossai, r.m. (CEnv)

National president
Waste management society of Nigeria

At

6st national council on environment

meeting

held at

Katsina state secretariat

katsina

13th 17th November, 2006

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 WASTE MANAGEMENT POLICY FOR 21ST CENTURY
NIGERIAN (Concept, Content and Constraint)

Potentially, waste is hazardous and consists of rejects. It therefore follows naturally that
it lacks the qualities of perfect-market goods. Consequently, waste management services
are generally considered non-productive. It is practically impossible for a non-
commercial activity to attract private fund. In the today’s world of private sector driven
economy, Nigerian waste management industry is faced with the problem of:

• Commercialization of waste management services and cost recovery

• Availability of investment capital and infrastructural development.

However, absence of waste management services account for unsanitary condition, high
risk of exposure to incidence and spread of diseases and, environmental degradation.
Additionally, waste management infrastructure is capital intensive, often times not
accepted by public and highly exposed to risk of uncertainty.

Nonetheless, the national aspiration of Nigeria for waste management is achievable with
appropriate and well-targeted and integrated policy instruments that will be driven by
strong political will, technological innovation and business initiatives. Vertical and
horizontal partnership amongst governments and the private sector in the industry is
necessary to ensure that the reform agenda of the Government bring a sustainable
change to the industry.

Ossai R.M. (MSc; CEnv; MCIWM; CWMgr; MNES; MNIA)

ISWA Certified Int’l Waste Manager

National President: Waste Management Society of Nigeria

Managing Director: The Initiates Ltd.

rmossai@initiatesgroup.com

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 A) NIGERIAN PROFILE

Waste as it is construed in today Nigeria is anything that lacks utility or

object or substance that the owner either voluntarily or involuntarily
relinquishes ownership of. It is a potential hazard by virtue of its nature and
composition and so its management is a hazardous activity. Thus waste does
not possess perfect-market goods quality. Primarily, the objectives of waste
management are urban hygiene and environmental protection. Hence the
benefit of waste management goes to all. It is a service that is equally
available to all members of community. These services when delivered
provide a multiplicity of consumption units that are identical and would not
be efficient to exclude any member of the community from enjoying them
thus; waste management service is an impure public good that nations aspire
to achieve to be in tune with growth.

Nigerian waste generation is on the increase at an estimated rate of about 0.5

– 0.7% per annum, with current figures ranging from 0.4 to 0.8 Ton /capita
/annum. Waste complexity is also increasing with biodegradable waste
currently accounting for over 50%. This amounts to over 50milion tons per
annum average waste burden on the nation with less than 10% waste
management capacity. This capacity is generally provided and delivered by
public sector. Commercialization of this sector has remained a task with
poor or no success story throughout Nigeria due to poor national policy
framework, infrastructural capacity and manpower. Nigerian development
policies have been poorly coordinated and, are highly dominated by
economic objectives so, environmental protection is low ranked.
Furthermore, bulk of available fund is in government possession resulting in

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high rate of corruption and low private sector participation. Consequently,
private sector is very weak and unable to deliver basic services like waste
management, urban cleansing, housing etc.

Currently less than one percent (1%) of Nigerian GDP is spent annually on
waste management and water supply with Lagos and Rivers States leading
with a monthly expenditure of about 300 and 100milion naira, respectively
on waste collection and disposal. This is far less than the recommended
standard of three to five percent (3-5%) of national GDP. Nigeria has over
thirty five percent (35%) of her population living in the cities with a growing
urbanization rate of about 7% per annum and less than ten percent (10%) of
the city populations enjoying marginal waste management services.

The 21st Century Nigeria is expected to witness technological growth,

increased urbanization, private sector controlled economy and
environmental awareness. These changes shall be accompanied by increased
waste yield and complexity, more public demand for protection from
environmental affront and consequently more integrated development
policies with increased control of waste management.

B) NATIONAL ASPIRATION

The United Nation Conference on Environment and Development of 1972

(otherwise known as Stockholm’s Conference) and the resulting resolution
heralded the new global environmental revolution. This revolution was
declared significant to all facets of human life during the Rio Earth Summit

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of 1992. Sustainable Waste Management forms a central part of the
revolution. The goals as enshrined in Agenda 21 seek the achievement of
environmentally sound management through increased safe disposal,
recovery of materials and sustainable patterns of production and
consumption of goods and services.

The targets of this noble goal are born out of the global objectives of
decoupling economic growth from ultimate waste yield, prevention and
minimization of hazardous wastes generation using information, economic
and regulatory mechanisms. These targets include:

• Securing by the year 2000, national, regional and international

capacity to access, process and monitor waste information.

• Development of programmes and plans by industrialized economies

by the year 2000 to stabilize and reduce generation of ultimate waste.

• Attaining necessary technical, financial and human resources capacity

for waste collection commensurate with need by 2000 and, achieving
adequate waste management services for the urban population by
2025 including full services coverage and,

• By 2025, it is expected that rural areas should have and adequately

maintain sanitation coverage.

Agenda 21 as ratified by Nigeria is a contract between government,

businesses and the NGOs to introduce major economic reforms to create
enabling environment aimed at progressively internalizing environmental
cost of goods and services. Generally, this means paying for the use of
environmental resources; both as source of raw materials and as sink for

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wastes generated. The contract is to accelerate a unique partnership for
change.

In this spirit, Section 20 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution proclaimed the

national environmental aspiration as the protection and improvement of our
environment including the land, waters and the atmosphere. A reflection of
this proclamation on waste management implies:

• responsible waste disposal targeted at protection of our environment

• maximization of reuse and recycling potential of waste to enhance

environmental resources conservation.

• Establishment and upgrading of waste management facilities and,

remediation of contaminated sites to propagate environmental
improvement.

This requires proper pricing and charging of both producers and consumers
of goods and services to instil sensible use of environmental resources.
However, this is trivialised by 4th Schedule of the same Constitution, which
casually ascribed the responsibility to Local Government. It is also important
to state that Sub-Section ‘h’ of Section 1 of this Schedule merely referred to
refuse disposal not waste in its entirety or its management. Waste matters
outside incidentals, are residual by virtue of it not appearing in any of the
lists in 2nd Schedule of the Constitution.

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The Waste management objectives of 1989 National Environmental Policy
are protection of public health and environmental pollution control. The
policy stipulates national methods for waste and pollution information
development and also prescribes environmental protection as a
constitutional duty of all tiers of governments. It clearly proclaims prompt
domestication of international legal instruments that Nigeria ratifies.

C) POLICY INSTRUMENT

Environmental revolution has critically made the trend of control very

complex by extending waste management issues beyond public health
protection and national boundaries. It now extends into private and futuristic
interests, international and political arena. In obedience to this, waste
management industry has become one of the most controlled in the
developed economies. Nevertheless, it is obviously not regulated in most
developing economics including Nigeria leading to serious health and long-
term environmental liabilities on the nation. Sadly, Nigeria today has no
comprehensive policy framework on waste management and so has no
nationally acceptable definition of waste.

This paper recognizes this gap and the relationship between control
instruments and policy direction hence; the discussion on policy instruments
as basic tool. Policy instruments could be principally classed into
informative, regulatory and economic. Instruments for provision and
delivery of knowledge or awareness in the form of information to make
actors more rational in the material flow cycle are informative. Regulatory

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maybe administrative or directive-base instrument used to proscribe or allow
certain actions, stipulate how certain activities should be conducted or used
to distribute responsibility within the chain of material flow, while those that
create financial burdens or relief for certain process, product or actions with
a view to redirecting either positive or negative incentives are economic
instruments. It is important to note that these instruments are not used
independent of the other for effectiveness.

The targets of waste management policies in Nigeria should be different

from those of the developed countries as control, waste accountability and
cost recovery are the challenges of Nigeria Waste Management industry.
Mainstreaming of waste policy into every sectors and also into the up and
downstream of material cycle are basic requirements for departure from the
present situation. As consumer nation, Nigeria should be desirous of
policies that are more responsive to product-related waste problems than
process-related. Nonetheless, the policies should be highly related to
physical development, water resources, raw material, energy and
procurement policies.

These policy instruments maybe directed at products, process or actors to

stimulate necessary mechanisms for adjusting social pressures. Policy
instruments are not limited to waste management, but pressures generated in
this sector are special and includes service, protection and control. These
pressures are dependent on the adjustment mechanisms of technical
capacity, willingness-to-pay, compliance capacity, enforcement capacity,
public enlightenment and information disclosure demand.

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A conceptual framework of an enduring policy instrument likely to sustain
Nigerian aspiration in waste management shall recognize the socio-
economic structure of Nigeria, thus structuring responsibilities and
jurisdiction in similar manner to minimise friction and improve business
environment. This framework shall address the following:

• Imposing of physical, informative and financial duties on waste

generator and importers or producers of special products.

• Technically adopting a stepwise approach that recognizes all

technological options in lieu of Waste hierarchy (integrated waste
management). This shall ensure that environmental objectives are
always balanced and also give room for transitional technology

• Develop the concept of provision of service that will gradually

shift from Government to waste generator.

• Transfer service delivery to private sector who will gradually

assume the responsibility of cost recovery.

• Encourage development of National professional organization in

waste management for establishment of code of conduct and best
practices in the industry.

• Increase financial incentives to waste manager in terms of duty

exemption, investment capital subsidy and tax holidays.

• Imposing of secondary raw material content in goods and

subsidizing cost of energy generation from waste.

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POLICY DRIVER

Waste Management is generally considered as a non-productive process with

non-commercial objectives and so requires more than market forces to
stimulate private investments in the industry. These explain why, despite
proclaimed national aspiration, relevance of Waste Management and above
all several governments’ interventions, the Nigerian Waste Management
industry has failed to attract commensurate private fund. The industry
requires more of mandatory rather than voluntary policies. Imperative
therefore are political and economic will. However, technological
innovations and business initiatives contributes in accelerating performance
of industry policies. In this light, brave political decisions are required in
order to implement policy instruments. It is important to note that policy
instruments have limited application in Nigerian economic system because
of its consumer nature.

Critical to development of a supportive Waste Management Industry for the

21st Century Nigerian economy is waste accountability through informative
policy instrument. This will in no small measure engender the
internalization of cost of waste management into goods and services and,
will stimulate private investment and encourage sustainable production and
consumption.

Waste accountability includes three responsibilities physical, financial and

informative. Waste generator shall be physically responsible as the owner of
wastes generated. This entails duty to ensure good storage, treatment and
responsible disposal. Financially, waste generator shares in the economic
burden of managing the waste (from collection to disposal). Waste

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generator by this instrument shall be required to render and account of its
waste yield to regulators either personally or through the waste managers.
This informative instrument shall encourage planning and improve
certainties in the industry thereby minimizing investment risks.

Business initiative contributes in awareness raising, information provision,

lobbying and networking. Core to business concerns are setting of standards
establishment of codes of conducts, voluntary agreements and social
reporting. Invariably, these aid governments in moderating commercial
objectives for achievement of the primary goals of waste management and
further help to secure internal benefits to the public and financial gains to
businesses.

Key to Waste Management development also are technological innovations,

as waste is increasingly becoming more complex and ecological capital is
correspondingly shrinking. Therefore innovation likely to address public
needs in terms of material recovery or energy need or that likely to link
Waste Management to other sectors; impact on Waste Management policy
instruments potency. The aim therefore, of the 21st Century policy drivers
should be to;

• assign provision of collection services responsibility to the lowest

level of authority (Local Council)

• organise large-scale disposal by State Government

• increase assessment and monitoring capability and accountability

by allocating the responsibility across board.

• develop skill and ensure capacity building at all levels

• implement best (affordable) user’s charge system.

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CONCLUSION

The reforms of the present government and the dictates of the global
business environment secure the economy of the 21st century Nigeria in the
hands of private sector. This is not only in the productive sectors but
includes the waste management industry. Sequel to this, the economy of the
21st century Nigeria shall be based on open-market driven cost recovery
system, cost effectiveness and efficient service delivery. The implications of
this in the waste management industry are competitiveness, accountability,
and separation of service provision and delivery.

In developing strategies to engender the above industry qualities, it must be

understood that waste management services is the forth public utilities
because of the latent ‘public goods” content and is incapable of absolute
alienation from government. This means government implicit participation
in the industry (either in moderation of cost recovery mechanism,
implementing public enlightenment, enforcing and developing standards) is
fundamental. Vertical partnership (amongst all tiers of governments) for
political commitment, strategic planning, coherent framework and shot-
circuiting of unpopular political decisions is an ingredient of this
participation. Also Horizontal partnership between public and private sector
(for easy public acceptance of facilities, progressive and long-term cost-
recovery programme, shared risks, and commercial drive and for efficiency)
is a necessary requirement for speedy industry growth.

These strategic requirements of the industry are meant to create a shift from
no control to controlled situation, a shift from process to product, a shift
from public conception of service as public goods to private goods and

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above all development of technical capacity and integration of waste
management into national development plan. Practically, this can be initiated
by the National Assembly with a Bill of the following content:

• Provision of a more functional, transparent and effective institutional

arrangement (defining roles of Federal, States and Local governments
including streamlining of the multiple Agencies charged with the
responsibilities of Waste Management)

• Establishment of instruments for waste information system

management and coordination

• Institutionalizing best practices and high environmental standards,

including occupational safety and,

• To put measures in place for continuous performance improvement in

waste management through the culture of professionalism

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