Running Waste and Recycling Programmes

About this course

This course shows how waste really moves through a Nigerian city, who is legally responsible for what, and how to design collection and recycling programmes that work with informal collectors, producers and private operators. It ends with the data and reporting habits that let you prove results to citizens, legislators, producers and funders.

Who it's for: Officers in state and federal ministries, environment and waste management agencies, and local government councils who design, procure, run or report on waste and recycling programmes.

What you'll be able to do

• By the end you will be able to map how waste and recyclables move through your city, including the informal trade, and show where money and material are lost.
• By the end you will be able to explain the roles of the federal ministry, NESREA, state agencies, local government councils and producer responsibility organisations, and spot gaps in enforcement.
• By the end you will be able to plan a baseline study and a pilot collection and recycling programme that includes informal collectors, schools and markets.
• By the end you will be able to draft partnership and contract terms that pay private operators for verified results rather than activity.
• By the end you will be able to set simple indicators, count verified tonnes once, and publish results that citizens and funders can trust.

Course outline

1. Module 1: How waste moves through a Nigerian cityAbout 10 minutes
   1. From household to dumpsite: the real chain
   2. Where value and money leak
   3. Check your understanding
2. Module 2: Law, policy and who does whatAbout 10 minutes
   1. The federal layer: policy, NESREA and producer responsibility
   2. States, local governments and enforcement realities
   3. Check your understanding
3. Module 3: Designing a collection and recycling programmeAbout 10 minutes
   1. Start with a baseline
   2. Segregation, drop-off and buy-back centres
   3. Schools, markets and pilots
   4. Check your understanding
4. Module 4: Working with producers and private operatorsAbout 10 minutes
   1. Extended Producer Responsibility and PROs
   2. Partnerships and contracts that pay for results
   3. Check your understanding
5. Module 5: Data, monitoring and public reportingAbout 10 minutes
   1. What to count and how to verify it
   2. Digital records and public reporting
   3. Check your understanding

Standards and frameworks covered

• Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Fourth Schedule, functions of local government councils)
• National Policy on Solid Waste Management
• National Policy on Plastic Waste Management
• NESREA Act 2007 and NESREA environmental regulations
• NESREA Extended Producer Responsibility regulations
• Public Procurement Act 2007
• Freedom of Information Act 2011
• Basel Convention
• GRI 306: Waste (2020)
• ISO 14001
• ISO 59004 (circular economy guidance)