Federal Gov’t, EU, Germany Unveil Regulations For Waste Battery Management

The Federal Ministry of Environment and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), with support from the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), Heinrich Boll Foundation and Alliance for Responsible Battery Recycling (ARBR), have launched the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations.

The regulations, developed in collaboration with several stakeholders in the sector, establish the national standard of best practices and market development for waste battery management in line with the provisions and recommendations of the Basel and Bamako Conventions and other related guidelines for the environmentally sound management of hazardous waste.

The aim is to prevent and minimise pollution and waste emanating from batteries thereby ensuring the environmentally sound management of used batteries in Nigeria. The government said the new law will ensure that producers of batteries take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products.

Covering the entire battery life cycle, the regulations apply to both new and used batteries. If implemented, the regulations could lead to the prevention and minimisation of pollution and waste from batteries in Nigeria.

In his welcome address, the director general/CEO, NESREA, Dr. Innocent Bariate Barikor said, ‚the Battery Control Regulation will support the Nigerian Government‘s efforts to ensure sustainable handling of waste batteries mostly resulting from the accelerated use of renewable energy solutions, such as solar home systems and mini-grids which promote energy access in unserved or underserved areas in the country.”

The minister said the new regulation represents significant stride in Nigeria‘s commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development, particularly in the management of used batteries.

Speaking at the launch, the minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, stated that, „this regulation is part of the administration‘s efforts to promote the practice of battery waste disposal in an internationally standardised nature, further facilitating and creating an enabling environment for deploying renewable energy projects, that boost the Nigerian economy‘.

In a short remark, the head of programme at NESP, Mr. Duke Benjamin, noted that „this milestone will go a long way in regulating the activities of the battery waste disposal industry and identifying the roles of relevant stakeholders whose efforts would greatly contribute to reducing the release of toxic chemicals in the atmosphere along different levels of the value chain.“