Lagos Government Says “No Going Back” on Styrofoam Ban

The Lagos state government continues to intensify its environmental protection and sustainability efforts, and the latest policy is a ban on styrofoam. The government, last year, demolished buildings in the Lekki corridor of the state which it said blocked drainage channels.

When the styrofoam ban was announced on January 21, it sent ripples throughout the state, as Tokunbo Wahab, the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, said on X (formerly Twitter) the ban was going into “immediate effect.” From the Lagos state government’s perspective, the styrofoam ban is necessary to mitigate the effects of environmental pollution and help reduce flooding when it rains.

Part of tackling the state’s flooding problems during rainy seasons, the outright ban seemed like a cutthroat measure, ostensibly playing a rehabilitating role in the inextricable link between climate change and plastic pollution.

The initial effect of the ban left local businesses in dysfunction. Local food vendors have resorted to using nylon bags as packaging alternatives. Chicken Republic, a fast food chain, released a notice on X asking customers to bring their own food containers. Due to calls from the public to phase out Styrofoam rather than enforce the immediate ban, the government revised the policy to include a three-week notice. Business operations have begun making small but corresponding adjustments.

Polystyrene manufacturers will be counting their losses, as they cut off wholesale and retail distribution to food vendors and other industries.

In 2022, it was revealed by a waste recycling company, Free Recycle Limited, that Lagos generates 870,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually and loses 7 billion naira in managing it.

Wahab says that Styrofoam (or polystyrene) would be the first plastic product on the eradication list, then proceeding to plastic spoons, cups and straws lacking recyclable potential.

“The number of lives that have been lost through the effect of the use of styrofoam, the destruction of the ecosystem and aquatic lives as well as the menace brought upon the environment cannot be quantified,” said Wahab on X, in a statement titled “Styrofoam: No Going Back On Ban and Usage in Lagos.”

A general view of a clogged up canal filled with styrofoam and single use plastic at Obalende in Lagos on January 23, 2024.Photo by BENSON IBEABUCHI/AFP via Getty Images.

A multitude of local businesses in Lagos are heavily reliant on Styrofoam and other single-use plastic products (SUPs) as cheap, operational materials. Paradoxically, their ubiquity may be an eyesore when discarded, but they are also needed for packaging for food vendors and restaurant chains.

The initial announcement generated mixed reactions from residents, from concern over how it will affect businesses, to calls for time so that people can adjust.

“Nothing kills business faster than government policies,” tweeted @lollypeezle, further stating that it’s a terrible decision for it to start with immediate effect, as it doesn’t give business owners and those affected enough of a window to make timely adjustments.

Another user on X, @temitop_, said the government in Lagos had got it priorities wrong: “This styrofoam ban is not a bad idea, however, if what the policy makers are trying to achieve is environmental sustainability, they are going the wrong route. Nigeria is a highly satchetized country; everything comes in one form of plastic or the other.”

“Decisions like banning styrofoam should definitely come in phases. What’s the plan? How should it be phased out? What’s the alternative? Don’t just come announce ban and then go. Also if the government provided all these kindly point me to it,” said @Zulu__a.

“Tweeting this out of mixed feelings. I wrote it yesterday but I deleted it because I felt I wasn't capturing my thoughts well. Opened insta and found the same thing. Why are environmentalists saying they are happy about the ban of the Styrofoam? Hear me out before you answer,” @Tolu_Oguntayo said on X.

Other comments on the internet praised the government for the intervention, hoping it would yield results in tackling environmental pollution.

“I want that styrofoam ban only in some selected areas….And bring back KAI, people need to learn how to dispose their waste properly,” @Mz_mobo said.