According to conservative POPs NIP estimates, UPOPs releases in Nigeria total approximately 5,400 g I-TEQ annually, with the bulk of these emissions originating from uncontrolled burning of mainly municipal waste, as well as from agricultural land clearing practices. With a population of 140 million, Nigeria generates annually about 20 million tons of municipal waste. The POPs NIP estimates that 20 % of this waste is uncontrollably burned at dump sites, to either recuperate valuable waste streams, such as metal, and to compact the volume of the waste, resulting in UPOPs releases totaling 5,300 g I-TEQ/a. The Federal Government of Nigeria is determined to take swift and concerted action to tackle waste management issues in major population centers and has demonstrated this by granting seven major cities with US$ 2 million each to implement their Integrated Waste Management Strategies (IWMS). Half of collected municipal waste is thought to be organic, and non-incineration alternatives to uncontrolled burning practices, such as the introduction of organic composting at community level and demonstration of BAT/BEP approaches, could result in a significant reduction of dioxin emissions if replicated nationwide. The proposed FSP activities, conducted within the framework of the IWMS, will assist Nigeria's Waste Management Initiative by: - Providing planning and policy advice with respect to waste management and reduction of UPOPs releases
- Providing technical assistance focusing on UPOPs reduction practices and technologies (BAT/BEP) as an integral component of the IWMS and their implementation
- Measures to help lower barriers for introducing non-burning waste management practices for household waste
- Introducing sustainable community level organic waste composting practices by creating products and markets for ready compost, building upon UNDP supported efforts in Lagos.
The immediate release reduction of UPOPs is difficult to estimate. However if, as a result of the FSP activities and their integration in the implementation of IWMS, non-burning practices for house hold waste management are replicated nationwide, municipal waste burning could be reduced by 20%, resulting in a 1060 g I-TEQ reduction of PCDD/Fs yearly. In addition, FSP activities will focus on uncontrolled agricultural land burning (“bush firing”), which is a common agricultural practice in Nigeria leading to local air pollution from particle emissions as well as UPOPs releases. The POPs NIP estimates that UPOPs releases from bush firing total some 153 g I-TEQ/a. Worryingly, much of the released UPOPs settle on the burned land are taken up in the food chain through new crops and grazing animals. As a part of the project, agricultural practices avoiding uncontrolled burning will be introduced in one state. While it is challenging to estimate the scale of land degradation mitigated and the amount of UPOPs emissions avoided, the main objective of this component will be to demonstrate best alternative practices and create a cost recovery base for the adopted BAT/BEP conforming practices based on mechanical clearing and further use/processing of cleared biomass. The direct project activities could reduce the overall emissions from this category with some 20 g I-TEQ/g, with successful nation-wide replication possibly resulting in a 100 g I-TEQ reduction annually. In addition to the sizeable direct avoidance of UPOPs emissions, the project’s global benefits will be able to demonstrate how BAT/BEP approaches for uncontrolled burning can put into practice in sub-Saharan African context. Throughout the preparatory phase following activities are expected: - Additional baseline information on current UPOPs releases origination from waste burning and land clearing practices will need to be collected;
- Project stakeholders, their capacities and responsibilities will be identified;
- An evaluation of national institutional, technical and managerial capacity for project implementation and monitoring will be analyzed and subsequently FSP implementation arrangements with the Nigeria Government will be decided upon;
- Liase with municipalities receiving grants under the IWMS on their plans of using the grants and how UPOPs considerations can be taken into consideration.
- To help create an enabling environment at the national and community level for sound management of household waste as well as alternative non-burning land clearing practices, potential public awareness campaigns, target audiences and information channels will be identified;
- Finally, the collected information will be integrated into a FSP template and will be prepared for GEF submission.
|