The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has reaffirmed its commitment to formally integrate the informal sector into the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Programme through a Cooperative-Led Model. This initiative aims to bring small-scale actors into cooperatives, enhancing inclusivity and compliance.
Stakeholder Sensitization Programme
During a stakeholder sensitization programme in Abuja, the Director General of NESREA, Prof. Innocent Barikor, emphasized the importance of the cooperative-led approach. He stated that the initiative seeks to make the EPR ecosystem more inclusive by incorporating informal waste collectors, sorters, and recyclers into the formal system. This would grant them access to governance structures, financing, social protection, and environmental compliance support.
Key Benefits of the Model
Prof. Barikor highlighted that the Cooperative-Led EPR Model presents an opportunity to organize waste actors into recognized cooperatives, providing them with legal identity, digital inclusion, financial access, and social protection. He noted that this would simultaneously strengthen national EPR implementation and environmental data systems. The model is described as a social and economic transformation strategy that utilizes cooperative structures, digital onboarding platforms, traceability systems, and the proposed Cooperative Passport framework. Through these mechanisms, informal workers can gradually transition into formal economic participants with access to enterprise support.
Presentation by Dr. Peter Ayim
Dr. Peter Ayim, Chief Steward of the Nigeria Environmental Stewardship Cooperative Society, presented the framework as a pathway for a scalable and inclusive circular economy in Nigeria. He emphasized that the cooperative-led model would address structural challenges faced by informal waste workers, including lack of formal recognition, economic vulnerability, occupational hazards, health and safety risks, and social exclusion. Additionally, the model would provide financial literacy, health insurance, equipment leasing, and other empowerment opportunities.
Global Best Practices
Dr. Ayim noted that countries such as Brazil, Colombia, India, South Africa, and European Union member states have successfully implemented similar models. Global experience confirms that cooperative systems are the most effective pathway for integrating informal waste actors into structured EPR frameworks, delivering both environmental sustainability and inclusive economic growth.
Participants and Stakeholders
The virtual meeting included key players in the EPR value chain, such as the Recyclers Association of Nigeria (RAN), Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), E-Waste Producers Responsibility Organization of Nigeria (EPRON), and Rural Women Energy Security (RUWES), among others.
