The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has announced plans to formally integrate informal waste workers into Nigeria’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework through a Cooperative-Led Model designed to promote inclusion, strengthen environmental compliance and deepen the country’s circular economy.
Director-General of NESREA, Innocent Barikor, disclosed the initiative on Wednesday during a virtual stakeholder sensitization programme on the Cooperative-Led Extended Producer Responsibility Model as a strategy for formalizing Nigeria’s informal waste sector.
Barikor explained that the framework seeks to address long-standing gaps within the EPR system by organizing informal waste collectors, sorters and recyclers into legally recognized cooperatives capable of accessing governance structures, financing opportunities, digital platforms, social protection and environmental compliance support.
According to him, the initiative would enable informal waste operators to obtain legal identity and gradually transition into the formal economy through digital onboarding systems, traceability mechanisms and a proposed Cooperative Passport framework.
“The Cooperative-Led EPR Model presents an opportunity to organize waste actors into recognized cooperatives, provide them with legal identity, digital inclusion, financial access and social protection, while simultaneously strengthening national EPR implementation and environmental data systems,” Barikor stated.
He described the initiative as both a social and economic transformation strategy aimed at improving livelihoods while enhancing environmental sustainability and data-driven waste management practices across the country.
Chief Steward of the Nigeria Environmental Stewardship Cooperative Society, Peter Ayim, who presented the framework, said the model offers Nigeria a scalable pathway toward building an inclusive circular economy.
Ayim noted that the cooperative approach would help address major structural challenges facing informal waste workers, including lack of formal recognition, poor access to finance, occupational hazards, inadequate health and safety protections, and social exclusion.
He cited countries such as Brazil, Colombia, India and South Africa, alongside member states of the European Union, as examples where cooperative-led systems have successfully integrated informal waste workers into structured EPR programmes.
“Global experience confirms that cooperative-led systems are the most effective pathway for integrating informal waste actors into structured EPR frameworks, delivering both environmental sustainability and inclusive economic growth,” he said.
Stakeholders participating in the virtual meeting included the Recyclers Association of Nigeria, the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, the E-Waste Producers Responsibility Organization of Nigeria and Rural Women Energy Security, among others.
