NIGERIA’S POOR RECYCLING SYSTEMS, A MAJOR CAUSE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

 

Recycling is an act of processing used and abandoned materials for use in creating new products. It involves converting waste materials into useful substances. Major cities in the country are polluted with materials which can be reproduced for use. Most common among these materials are poly ethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles commonly used for packing drinks and some food. Going through major cities in the country, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) inclusive, the effects of these materials on the streets, water ways is nothing to write about.

The other substances commonly found on the streets of Nigeria are nylons, especially, sachet water nylon. As cities are polluted with PET bottles, towns and villages are covered with this trash. The PET bottles and sachet water nylons are both plastic materials, and they are non-biodegradable.  Due to this, they can stand for years where ever they are deposited.

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Metal scraps are also found in every nook and cranny of the country. Can food, engine parts, vehicle bodies, roofing sheets, condemned tools, and the likes are the metallic materials used to pollute environments, in Nigeria. Despite the campaigns against indiscriminate disposing of wastes, people still dump these substances indiscriminately, and apart from polluting the surroundings, the aesthetic values of these places are destroyed by the act.

In getting over this environmental abuse act, government should work on the production firms to be producing environmentally friendly packaging materials. The consequences of indiscriminate waste disposal should be made known to the citizens and they should desist from the act.

Most importantly, Nigeria government needs to work more in resuscitating and building recycling industries in the country to facilitate the conversion of these materials into some other substances that can be reused. This act alone will help in maintaining environmental cleanliness.