The Federal Government has urged all the relevant stakeholders to collaborate for effective sensitization to fight against e-wastes across the country.
The Director-General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Prof. Aliyu Jauro, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja on Sunday.
Jauro said that the best approach to prosecute the war against e-wastes in the country is to engage stakeholders on effective sensitization of the public.
According to him, most people are not aware of the dangers and harm associated with e-wastes activities.
“So, the best way to let them understand that such items are dangerous is to enlighten the public on their hazardous effect.
“The agency also ensures that all manufacturers, importers, and retailers register with the Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO).
“The most popular method adopted is the industry-driven model, whereby, the PRO is appointed by the manufacturers, retailers, and importers and they should be responsible for managing the e-wastes as Nigeria is a consumer nation.
“The PRO will use the collected finance being provided to support the collection of the e-waste,” he said.
Jauro said that the agency does not have enough technology to monitor dealers of pesticides and hazardous chemicals in the country, and this has affected the provision of an efficient update on the prosecution of the dealers.
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He said that the agency recently rewarded about 16 outlets for adhering to its environmental compliance, adding that the essence of the awards is to encourage the organizations for being effective in their service delivery.
He said that one of the agency’s mandates is to ensure compliance with all environmental laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines.
He said that the aim of the award was not only to encourage the organizations that adhered to the regulations but also to ensure that others who refused to comply with the regulations emulate the exemplary performance of the awardees.
“So, we created activities of these organizations and most of them engage in the production of some products which have an impact on the environment.
“We decided to develop regulations guiding how they are supposed to conduct the activities so that it will not impact much on the environment.
“When there is no compliance, we do enforce. So in the course of doing that there is a provision for a reward system.
“Those that comply voluntarily with all our guidelines should be regarded as a form of encouragement for others to key in,” he said.
The director-general said the selection of the awardees was made with regard to environmental documentation such as Permits, Environmental Audits and the level of Corporate Social Responsibility activities carried out by the selected organizations.
