By Danjuma Amodu
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has unveiled a cooperative-led model aimed at integrating Nigeria’s informal waste sector into the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme.
The agency said the move would formalise the activities of small-scale waste collectors, sorters and recyclers by organising them into cooperatives with access to governance structures, financing, social protection and environmental compliance support.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Nwamaka Ejiofor, Assistant Director Press. According to the statement, NESREA Director General, Professor Innocent Barikor, announced the initiative on Wednesday during a virtual stakeholder sensitisation programme on the Cooperative-Led Extended Producer Responsibility Model.
“The Cooperative-Led EPR Model presents an opportunity to organise waste actors into recognised cooperatives, provide them with legal identity, digital inclusion, financial access and social protection, while simultaneously strengthening national EPR implementation and environmental data systems,” Barikor said.
He described the model as a social and economic transformation strategy, noting that digital onboarding platforms, traceability systems and a proposed Cooperative Passport framework would enable informal workers to transition into formal economic participants with access to enterprise support, financial literacy, health insurance and equipment leasing.
Presenting the framework, Chief Steward of the Nigeria Environmental Stewardship Cooperative Society, Dr Peter Ayim, said it provided Nigeria with a pathway for a scalable and inclusive circular economy. He added that the model would address challenges faced by informal waste workers, including lack of formal recognition, economic vulnerability, occupational hazards and social exclusion.
Ayim cited Brazil, Colombia, India, South Africa and European Union member states as examples where cooperative-led systems had proven effective in integrating informal waste actors into structured EPR frameworks.
Key players in the EPR value chain attended the virtual meeting, including the Recyclers Association of Nigeria, Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, E-Waste Producers Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria and Rural Women Energy Security.
