This urgent call resonated profoundly at the 2025 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue in Lagos, where the nation’s foremost environmental agency issued a stark warning, buttressed by appeals from the event’s convener for a concrete national strategy.

Delivering the keynote address, Professor Innocent Barikor, the director general/CEO of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), who was represented by Olaide Oyedele-Taiwo, the chief scientific officer (CSO) at the Lagos State Liaison Office, underscored that the nation’s rapidly increasing generation of electronic waste is not merely an environmental nuisance but a burgeoning health crisis and a squandered economic opportunity.

“The demand for critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements, vital components in our everyday electronics, is skyrocketing globally,” Barikor stated unequivocally. “Nigeria must position itself not just as a consumer, but as a key player in the circular economy by establishing efficient systems to recover these materials from discarded electronics, rather than allowing them to poison our communities.”

He warned of the dire consequences of informal e-waste recycling, where hazardous materials like lead, mercury, and cadmium are released into the environment, posing severe health risks.

“When you don’t recycle your e-waste responsibly, it’s not just clutter; it’s a silent killer lurking in our landfills and informal dumps,” he said, making a passionate plea for immediate behavioural change.

Earlier in the day, Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, group executive, Editor of ITREALMS Media Group and Convener of the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, set the stage by extending a warm welcome to a distinguished array of guests, industry leaders, and regulators.

He highlighted the significant honor of hosting representatives from key stakeholders including NESREA, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), ALTON, IXPN, NLNG and EPRON among others, emphasizing that their collective presence signaled the e-waste challenge as a national priority.

Nweke traced the journey of the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, noting its evolution over five years.

“Five years ago, we began this Dialogue to foster awareness. Today, the conversation must evolve. We have moved beyond merely acknowledging the problem; Nigeria now generates an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of e-waste annually. This burden demands immediate, unified, and practical solutions.”

He explained that this sobering reality informed the blunt and focused theme for the year: “Nigeria: Recycle Your e-Waste … It’s Critical!”

Nweke described this theme as “A call to action. It is a demand for a concrete national strategy. It is an appeal for every digital citizen to take personal responsibility.”

He also previewed the subsequent high-powered panel session, set to dissect the roles of various stakeholders in transforming the crisis into a circular economic opportunity.

Professor Barikor, in his keynote, further cemented the federal government’s unwavering commitment to the full implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme in the Electrical and Electronics sector.

This initiative, he explained, places the onus on producers and manufacturers to manage the end-of-life cycle of their products, from collection to recycling.

“The National Environmental (Electrical and Electronics) Sector Regulations are not merely guidelines; they are enforceable laws designed to ensure accountability,” Barikor asserted, signaling a firmer stance from the regulatory body.

He indicated that NESREA would intensify its efforts to ensure compliance, stressing that deliberate disregard for these regulations would face stringent enforcement.

Before concluding, Nweke underscored a crucial holistic perspective: “E-waste management is not just an environmental issue; it is a public health, economic, and national security issue.”

He affirmed the Dialogue’s mission to leave the event with actionable policy recommendations that will protect Nigeria’s environment and future generations.

Professor Barikor concluded his address by challenging every attendee to become “e-waste ambassadors,” urging them to champion proper e-waste disposal and recycling, transforming it from a niche environmental concern into a daily habit for every Nigerian.

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Maida made this call at the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue which held at the prestigious Welcome Center Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos recently with the theme: You can recycle anything with a plug, battery, and cable.

The EVC who was represented by a Director at NCC from the Department of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Dr. Lawal Bello said that this has become imperative given the dynamism in technology economic changes.

Nigeria, EVC said, stands to benefit more by taking conscious measures to reduce the e-waste generated using ICT Tools and equipment in the country.

“This will not only save the country’s expenditure but also less e-waste to manage,” he said.

Maida listed some E-Waste benefits and opportunities associated with conscious efforts, asserting that the environmental and economic benefits of recycling telecom equipment abound.

Recycling telecom equipment, for instance, he said, could reduce Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, save energy, and prevent e-waste from polluting the environment.

“It can also generate value for telcos by reusing, repairing, or reselling hardware and devices,” he said.

The best practices of telcos embracing sustainability, he said, would entail that some telcos should launch initiatives to promote recycling and circularity, as UK Vodafone’s internal asset marketplace, which allowed operators to repurpose excess or decommissioned hardware, or its device trade-in programme, which encourages customers to return their old devices for recycling or refurbishment.

Pointing out that other telcos have set ambitious targets to reduce their carbon footprint and increase their use of renewable energy.

Nigerian telecoms operator and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) manufacturers, Maida advised could adopt device trade-in.

This, EVC advised, would be nudged to adopt similar ideas on device trade-in programs to reduce E-waste in the country especially for mobile phones and tablets.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Group Executive Editor of ITREALMS Media and convener of the E-Waste Dialogue, Sir Remmy Nweke, applauded participants and partnering entities like the NCC, Internet Exchange of Nigeria ( IXPN), Domain Name System (DNS) Women Nigeria as well as Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), Nigeria IT Reporters Association (NITRA), Waste Managers of Nigeria and E-waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON) for their consistency in supporting the advocacy, stressing the need to positively dispose our mobile devices for the sake of  the future and environment.

The post ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue: NCC Boss Calls for Conscious Measures to Reduce Electronic Waste appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This is coming as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) and E-Waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON) are warming up among other members of stakeholders for the dialogue on December 15, 2023 with theme: You Can recycle anything with a plug, battery or cable.

The editor-in-chief, ITREALMS Media group, Remmy Nweke, Esq, disclosed these in Lagos at the weekend, stressing the importance of continuously creating awareness on the electronic waste as the nation deploys Fifth Generation (5G) networks, which has potential for influx of electronic devices and usage in Nigeria, than ever before.

Also, Nweke pointed out that the Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) pass off from the likes of mobile phones, computers, TV-sets, and fridges among other electronic devices have become a set of fastest growing waste streams across the globe.

Nigeria, he noted, is particularly burdened by the WEEE with estimated 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste annually arising from both local and imported Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) under the guise of second hand or fairly used.

Experts, Nweke said, have been selected to give insights on e-Waste in Nigeria with regards to how individual digital citizens could contribute to the recycling of anything with a plug, battery or cable.

“ITREALMS Media in commemoration of the annual International E-waste Day (IeWD) 2023, is hosting a day discourse on ‘You Can recycle anything with a plug, battery or cable’ under its flagship ITREALMS e-Waste Dialogue scheduled for Friday, December 15, at the Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos,” he said.

He recalled that the 2023 edition is the fourth in the series of ITREALMS e-Waste Dialogue and urged stakeholders and enthusiasts to join experts and learn more on best approach to recycling even the smallest of device tools and often neglected like discharging of mobile phone batteries and cables.

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