The Nigerian Government announced it is working with a German Company, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur International Zunsammenbeit (GIZ) to develop National Policy and guidelines on Waste Battery Management.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, at a workshop on the Draft National Policy on Waste Battery Management on Tuesday, in Abuja, stating that the policy would ensure a safe and healthy environment for Nigerians.
The workshop was jointly organised by the ministry and the German Agency for International Cooperation or (GIZ) under the auspices of the Nigeria Energy Support Programme (NESP).
The Minister disclosed that the Ministry would hasten the process for Federal Economic Council approval. ”I am glad that the development of this policy is coming at a time of heightened global concerns on the dangers of improper handling of waste batteries,” he said.
“The government is deeply committed to its obligations under the Basel convention on the issues of managing hazardous and other wastes.
“In this regard, the government has put in place a permitting scheme which allows hazardous waste that Nigeria does not have the local capacity to handle to be exported to countries that have the technical capacity to manage them in an environmentally sound manner,” he added, stating that the scheme covers a whole range of hazardous wastes including waste batteries, electronic wastes, used oil, spent catalysts, asbestos waste and used tyres.