FROM PLASTIC BAG WASTES TO WEALTH: A CASE STUDY OF ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NIGERIA

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1 ISSN Contents lists available at CJ Journal of Environmental Management and Safety Journal homepage: Vol. 2, No 1 FROM PLASTIC BAG WASTES TO WEALTH: A CASE STUDY OF ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NIGERIA Patrick A. Ogwo* 1,L.O. Obasi 1, D.S.Okoroigwe 2 and Ndukwe O. Dibia 3 1 Department of Environmental Resource Management 2 Departments of Geography and Planning 3 Department of Accountancy Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria * Corresponding Author pfaikon78@yahoo.com ARTICLE INFO Article history Received 2 nd March, 2013 Received in revised form 4 th April 2013 Accepted 10 th May 2013 Available online 14 th may, 2013 Keywords: Plastic bag waste management, waste to wealth project, Abia State University Sustainable Project ABSTRACT The current state of plastic bag waste pollution in Nigeria is alarming. A number of undesirable environmental impacts including blockage of water ways and rivers, choking of animals soils and the mosaic litters of pure water sachet in the landscape require urgent attention.externalities are the primary cause of the plastic problem: external costs from end-of life environmental impacts and resource depletion are not factored in the products costs,resulting in plastics being so cheap that they are given away for free which serve the profligate use and throw pattern of consumption and production.institutional,policy failures and inadequacy of environmental by-laws to deter littering and illegal dumping also contribute to the problem. This project is an application of the waste management hierarchy of re-use and economic instruments to input sustainability in the post consumer management of plastic bags wastes in Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria. Results indicate that a price tag to plastic waste could convert the problem into opportunity. We therefore recommend that the principle of plastic bag reuse could be applied to the larger society to solve the problem of plastic bag menace in Nigeria. copyright@2013cepa

2 Introduction Plastic bags have become major items in the litter stream in municipal solid waste. This has resulted in a number of adverse environmental impacts including choking of animals, soils, blockage of channels, rivers and waterways and blight and mosaics of landscapes. Plastic film bags, particularly the black coloured types, have become associated with the flying toilets shot put or bullet, another growing concern in students hostels and neighborhoods. As a result of these impacts, concern has been expressed from the public at large, environmentalists and the governments to the extent that some state governments have banned the sale of pure water in their states. The menace of plastic bag waste in Nigeria can be attributed to a number of root causes. First and foremost are externalities in production and consumption. No one is paying for the adverse impacts that wasted plastic are causing on the environment. Costs for proper collection and disposal are not factored in the products costs of the materials. As a result, plastic bags have become overly so cheap that they are given away for free as packaging materials at supermarkets and kiosks. Kimilu (2004) argues that the three fold combination of institutional, market and policy failures result in a cascade of undesirable effects in society. He explains that institutional failures such as the absence of secure property rights, market failures such as environmental externalities, and policy failures such as distortionary subsidies, drive a wedge between the private and social costs of production and consumption activities.field and Field(2002) identify a fourth type of failure which they call government failure. They define government failures as systematic tendencies within legislatures and regulating agencies that work against the attainment of efficient and equitable public policies. The presence of government failure implies that it can not always be assumed that all public environmental policies will make situation better. For example the policy of Enugu State government through the instrumentality of DFID to collect and bury plastic bags in Ugwuaji dumpsite or the policy of Imo State government to ban the sale of pure water in Owerri, the State Capital and its environs. According to Kimilu (2004) a direct result of such failures is that producers and consumers of products and services do not receive the correct signals about the true scarcity of resources they deplete or the costs of environmental damage they cause. This, he argues, leads to over production and over consumption of commodities that are resource depleting and environment polluting. The process results in a pattern of economic growth which undermines its own resource base and which is ultimately unsustainable. In view of the overwhelming plastic bag waste pollution that has become characteristic feature of urban cities of Nigeria, one anticipates that at the root of the problem is one or a combination of these failures. This research sets out 36

3 to identify the failures relevant to the Nigerian context with a view to applying the waste management hierarchy of reuse as a possible solution. Another root cause is government failure to enact laws on littering and trash in Nigeria. The result is that individual behavior on littering of post consumer plastic bags is not regulated. Thirdly is the institutional failure to organize source separation of waste. The result is that every waste is mingled and mixed with the expectation that one day one miracle inventor will come up with a device that can handle metals, bottles, plastics, paper and organics together. In the absence of source separation of waste streams it is impossible to transit from mere shifting of waste up to waste management hierarchy. An additional factor is low public awareness and attitude on the responsible disposal of waste. This has resulted in littering and throwing of wastes even through the windows of moving vehicles. The absence of life-cycle considerations amongst manufacturers especially as regards end-of-life impacts also contribute to the littering of plastic bags wastes. The fact that plastic bags are manufactured from non-renewable and non-biodegradable materials adds to the environmental burden. The result is that plastic bags remain in the ecosystem without decomposition up to 50 years. Sustainability in plastic bags production and consumption must be such that the waste-product (output) of one process becomes an essential raw material for another process. Sustainability is the only way that these underlying causes of environmental impacts could be addressed. This calls for the formulation and enforcement of corrective policy measures. The principle of sustainable waste management indicates that both the pre-and post consumer phases of plastic bags have to be managed for them to be on the sustainable roadmap. The hierarchy of avoid-reduce-reuserecycle-incinerate-landfill must be applied (International Institute for Sustainable Development IISD, 2008). Materials and Methods In Abia State University we tried to apply the principle of reuse in the waste management hierarchy of plastic bags using economic and informative instruments instead of policy and regulatory instruments. We chose to use economic incentives because regulatory and enforcement instrument have failed to yield the desired result in deterring people from the throw-away attitude and littering. Other measures such as levies, voluntary approaches and outright ban have also not yielded the desired environmental impacts. So we started by putting a price tag to every plastic pure water sachet collected and prepared for use as pots for raising ornamental plants. For each pure water collected and so-prepared we offered N3. Results and Discussions Results 37

4 The numbers of plastic pure water sachets collected and prepared for potting ornamental plants are shown in table 1 Duration Number Number Prepaid Total number of plants Collected raised as nursery Within 3 weeks 20, , 000 5, Month 50, , ,000 2 Months 70, , , Months 100, , ,000 Total 240, , , 000 Table 1 shows the number of plastic bag sachets collected in Abia State University Campus, the number of sachets prepared and filled with the appropriate soil mixtures, the total number of plants pinned as nursery transplants and the cumulative number of transplants raised from 3 weeks after the take-off of the project up to 3 months into the project. Results show that within the 3 months of take-off of the project 240, 000 pure water sachets that could have filmed and mulched the campus environment and suffocated all forms of biota, were removed through economic incentive offered to volunteers. Of these number collected, 115, 000 Potts have been raised as Nursery transplants. Table 2 Length of walkways and drive way created and planted with hedge plants raised from the plastic bag wastes. LENGH(M) CUM Walkway from Environmental park to Auditorium Walkway from Environmental park to cafeteria From Science Block to Environmental park From Staff Car Park to faculty of biological and physical sciences Driveway from admin Block to Senate Building Driveway from Gate to Security post Car Park at law Faculty Walkways at law Faculty and island Olu Obasanjo Hall, Exam centre

5 Table 2 shows the result of length of walkways and driveways created and planted up with hedge plants raised from the plastic bag waste litters. Result shows that between April and July 25, 2008, 5240 meters of walkways have been beautified through the planting of hedges. Recommendations We recommend that government policy should transit from mere shifting of waste from generation points to final dumpsite to the waste management hierarchy of avoid-reduce-reuserecycle-incinerate-landfill. This transition must be based on the principles of source separation of waste stream at the generation points so that different waste programmes could emerge for metals, plastics, paper, and organics. Other educational institutions in Nigeria could gain and learn from valuable experience of Abia State University in turning a problem into opportunity for profit making and sustainable production and consumption. Future Research Based on the finding of this study the following areas are recommended for future research. There is need for future research in the production of environmentally Degradable Plastics and the issue of compostable waste bags to replace the use of non-biodegradable and non-compostable refuse bags currently used in refuse collection. Are degradable plastic bags the real solution to the menace of plastic litters in the urban cities? The other area of research is the Deposit Refund System. Under this system buyers of plastic pure water bags will be required to make a deposit which will be refunded to them on return of the empty plastic bags. References: Field, B.C and Field, M.K (2002) Environmental Economics: An introduction 3ed.irwin/McGraw. Hill. International institute for Sustainable Development (2008) Instruments for change: Definitions and concepts (online) Available at les.htm (July, 2008) Kimilu, D (2004) Plastic Waste Management: what options. In 11 th annual international sustainable development research conference June , Helsinki University of Tampere. Ren, X. (2003) Biodegradable plastics: a solution or a challenge? Journal of cleaner production p UNEP (2004). The African 10 years framework programme (10YFP) on sustainable consumption and production (online) Available: pdf(2008. July 14) WIKIPEDIA (2008) The online encyclopedia provides the following definition: market failure, government failures etc. 39