Stakeholders urge stronger coordination to tackle multiple taxation, poor market access and weak infrastructure.

Nigeria’s recycling industry is seeking a more coordinated approach to addressing the challenges limiting its growth, with operators calling for a united platform capable of engaging government, investors and other stakeholders on issues affecting the sector.

The call was made at a meeting of the Waste Recyclers Council of Nigeria, which brought together representatives of major recycling and waste-management associations, including the Lagos Recyclers Association (LAGRA), Recyclers Association of Nigeria (RAN), Waste Pickers Association of Nigeria (WAPAN), United Waste Recycling and Suppliers Association of Nigeria, and the Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos (ASWOL).

Participants said the industry had remained too fragmented, with different associations and businesses often approaching government agencies separately over similar concerns. They argued that the lack of a common voice weakened the sector’s bargaining power and made it difficult to secure favourable policies, financing and market opportunities.

The stakeholders identified limited access to finance, multiple taxation and levies, inadequate infrastructure, poor market access, weak policy coordination and insufficient recognition of indigenous operators as some of the major challenges confronting the industry.

‘If we don’t recognise ourselves, why would others recognise us?’

Chairman of the Waste Recyclers Council of Nigeria, Babatunde Adebayo, said the council was created to bring together associations operating across the recycling value chain and ensure that stakeholders no longer worked independently on matters affecting their collective interests.

Adebayo said the public perception of recycling was often restricted to familiar materials such as PET bottles, cartons and nylon, whereas the industry covered a much wider range of materials and economic activities.

He said greater awareness was needed to demonstrate the size, diversity and economic importance of the recycling sector.

The council chairman also challenged recycling associations to recognise and support one another, saying the industry could not expect external recognition if its own players failed to acknowledge their contributions.

“If we are not recognising ourselves among ourselves, then why would other people recognise us?” he said.

According to Adebayo, the council has a broader responsibility beyond advocacy, including helping to shape the future of the industry and making recycling more attractive to younger Nigerians.

He urged operators to stop viewing recycling solely as a means of survival and begin treating it as a sustainable business sector capable of generating employment, wealth and long-term investment opportunities.

Council consolidates structure

Secretary-General of the council, Victor Okunola, briefed members on developments since previous meetings, including efforts to strengthen the organisation, increase its visibility and advance its registration.

Okunola said the council had held several meetings since its first gathering in 2023 and had continued to expand its membership and activities.

He said previous discussions had centred on the council’s registration, funding arrangements, membership and the review of its constitution.

According to him, a committee had been established to undertake a comprehensive review of the constitution, with member associations expected to contribute to the process.

Okunola said the latest meeting was significant as the council moved towards consolidating its structures and strengthening its position as a platform for representing the wider interests of Nigeria’s recycling industry.

Fragmentation weakens bargaining power

A member of the council’s Board of Trustees, Dr Oluwafemi Idowu Adegoke, said the council emerged from concerns over the fragmented nature of the recycling industry.

Adegoke, who has about 25 years’ experience in waste management across the private and public sectors, said operators had discovered that many associations were dealing with essentially the same problems but were attempting to solve them independently.

He said the situation had created a system in which operators worked in silos, limiting their collective ability to negotiate better opportunities and protect the interests of businesses across the value chain.

According to him, the absence of a united front had also created room for off-takers and other market players to offer different prices and conditions to operators dealing with similar recyclable materials.

Adegoke stressed that greater collaboration was essential if the industry was to achieve sustainable growth.

He described waste as a resource rather than something that should simply be discarded, noting that recyclable materials possess economic value capable of creating opportunities at different stages of the value chain.

Waste pickers seek greater recognition

The meeting also highlighted the central role played by waste pickers in Nigeria’s recycling ecosystem.

National Vice-President of the Waste Pickers Association of Nigeria, Modupe Adelaja, said waste pickers were at the frontline of recovering recyclable materials from communities across the country.

She explained that waste pickers collect, recover, sort and aggregate materials before supplying them to recycling businesses and processors.

Among the materials recovered are PET bottles, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene, aluminium and other metals, paper, cardboard and other recyclable materials.

Adelaja said an inefficient collection and recovery system at community level would result in large quantities of valuable recyclable materials ending up in dumpsites or polluting the environment.

She said WAPAN was seeking stronger collaboration with the Waste Recyclers Council, particularly on policymaking, market access, investment and financing.

She added that the association's vision was to ensure that waste pickers were recognised, protected, organised and integrated into Nigeria’s emerging circular economy.

WAPAN, she said, has more than 10,000 members operating across the country.

Indigenous operators face funding challenges

The stakeholders also raised concerns about increasing foreign participation in Nigeria’s recycling industry and the difficulty indigenous businesses face in obtaining the financing required to compete and expand.

They noted that recycling was capital-intensive, requiring investment in collection vehicles, transportation, warehouses, sorting equipment, machinery, processing facilities and other infrastructure.

According to participants, many local operators lacked access to affordable funding, limiting their ability to increase production capacity, adopt modern technology or move further up the recycling value chain.

They therefore called on financial institutions and government agencies to recognise recycling as an important economic sector and create financing mechanisms that would enable indigenous businesses to expand.

Participants maintained that the industry had significant potential to generate employment, support livelihoods and contribute to economic development if its financing and infrastructure constraints were addressed.

Multiple taxation remains a concern

Multiple taxation and overlapping levies were also identified as major obstacles to the growth of recycling businesses.

Stakeholders called for a more coordinated taxation and regulatory framework, arguing that operators should not be subjected to multiple charges imposed by different government levels and agencies for similar activities.

They said excessive and overlapping levies increased operating costs and made it more difficult for legitimate businesses to remain competitive.

The meeting also examined the need to improve standards and professionalism within the industry.

Participants called for clearer industry standards that would promote accountability, strengthen operations and ensure that genuine recycling businesses and waste workers were properly identified and recognised.

Stakeholders seek shift from collection to local processing

Beyond improving collection, the stakeholders urged Nigeria to develop greater capacity to process recyclable materials locally rather than focusing primarily on collecting and exporting them.

They said plastics, paper, metals and other recyclable materials could generate considerably more economic value when processed domestically and converted into new products.

The participants therefore called for increased investment in recycling infrastructure, research, laboratories and technology capable of identifying, classifying and processing recyclable materials more efficiently.

They also stressed the importance of reliable data, material traceability and stronger collaboration among recyclers, government regulators, local authorities, producers and development partners.

Council seeks common platform, not replacement of associations

Adebayo clarified that the Waste Recyclers Council was not intended to replace the mandates of individual associations.

Rather, he said, its purpose was to provide a common platform through which different groups could collectively pursue issues of shared interest.

The meeting featured introductions of representatives of member associations, consideration and adoption of minutes from the previous meeting, discussions on membership strength and updates on the council’s registration process.

For the stakeholders, the discussions reinforced a central point: Nigeria’s recycling industry has significant economic and environmental potential, but unlocking that potential will require greater organisation, stronger collaboration and a collective voice.

They maintained that a united industry would be better positioned to engage government on taxation, regulation, financing, standards and infrastructure while also attracting investment and creating more opportunities within the circular economy.

The emerging consensus was that recycling must increasingly be viewed not as an informal survival activity, but as a structured economic sector capable of supporting businesses, creating jobs, protecting the environment and contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s economic development.