By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, says the National Environmental Plastic Waste Control Regulation 2026 will create jobs and boost the recycling market.
It said this contradicts the notion that the rule is designed to shut down industries.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, NESREA Director General Prof. Innocent Barikor, represented by Dr. Christopher Beka, Director of Inspection and Enforcement, said the regulation will reduce plastic pollution and grow Nigeria’s circular economy.
The clarification followed concerns raised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, over the new regulations.
Barikor said some of MAN’s concerns stem from a misreading of the regulation’s scope.
He stressed that Regulation 26, which sets an 80-micron minimum for plastic bags, applies only to specific plastic film bags. It does not ban all single-use plastics or packaging used in food, beverage, pharmaceutical, agricultural, or logistics sectors. Those have separate compliance pathways.
“The focus is on eliminating the most problematic, low-value, easily littered plastics while guiding industry toward better design, recovery, reuse, and recycling,” he said.
NESREA said the regulations provide transition windows to avoid shocks to manufacturing.
“The minimum recycled PET content requirement starts at 25% from Jan. 1, 2028, and rises to 50% from Jan. 1, 2030. Other requirements on producer responsibility, reporting, traceability, and eco-labelling will also be rolled out progressively with stakeholder input,” Barikor said.
“The intention is not to halt production but to support a managed shift from ‘produce-use-dispose’ to a circular model.”
While acknowledging job protection concerns, NESREA argued that unmanaged plastic pollution poses a bigger risk through flooding, blocked drains, marine litter, and health hazards.
The agency said the regulations will create new opportunities in collection, sorting, recycling, packaging innovation, and compliance services. This can expand jobs in both formal and informal waste sectors and strengthen demand for locally sourced secondary raw materials.
On cost, NESREA said the polluter-pays principle applies: producers must share responsibility for recovery and disposal. But local sourcing of recycled PET and design-for-recyclability will reduce long-term dependence on virgin imports and foreign exchange pressure.
Barikor noted the regulations build on Nigeria’s National Policy on Plastic Waste Management and years of stakeholder consultations. A new Central Data Collection Platform will help Nigeria move from fragmented estimates to reliable data on plastic production, imports, recovery, and leakage.
He dismissed calls for suspension, saying the regulations are already gazetted law and provide room for phased implementation and review. “Suspension would create regulatory uncertainty and delay investment,” he said.
