NESREA moves to integrate informal waste workers into recycling chain through cooperative-led EPR model

NIGERIA – NESREA has unveiled a strategy to integrate informal waste pickers into Nigeria’s formal recycling system through a Cooperative-Led EPR model, organising them into legally recognised cooperatives with access to financing and social protection.

Director-General Professor Innocent Barikor disclosed the initiative during a virtual stakeholders’ sensitisation programme, stating that the framework was designed to close the long-standing exclusion gap within Nigeria’s waste management ecosystem by formally recognising and empowering informal waste workers who play a major role in recycling activities across the country. 

He noted that the move would strengthen Nigeria’s EPR implementation and improve environmental accountability and data management within the recycling sector.

Transforming Livelihoods Through Formalisation

Barikor described the initiative as both an environmental and socio-economic reform strategy capable of transforming the livelihoods of thousands operating within the informal waste economy. 

He explained that through digital onboarding systems, traceability mechanisms, and the proposed Cooperative Passport framework, informal workers would gradually transition into the formal economy with access to enterprise support, financial literacy programmes, health insurance, equipment leasing, and other empowerment opportunities. 

He stated that the Cooperative-Led EPR Model presents an opportunity to organise waste actors into recognised cooperatives, provide them with legal identity, digital inclusion, financial access, and social protection, while simultaneously strengthening national EPR implementation and environmental data systems.

Global Precedent for Cooperative Models

In a presentation at the meeting, Chief Steward of the Nigeria Environmental Stewardship Cooperative Society, Dr. Peter Ayim, said the cooperative-led framework offers Nigeria a sustainable pathway towards building an inclusive circular economy. 

Ayim observed that informal waste workers currently face numerous structural barriers, including lack of formal recognition, economic vulnerability, occupational hazards, poor health and safety conditions, and social exclusion. 

He cited successful implementation of similar models in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, India, and South Africa, as well as several European Union member states, stressing that global experience has shown cooperative-led systems to be among the most effective mechanisms for integrating informal waste actors into structured EPR frameworks.

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholders at the meeting included representatives of the Recyclers Association of Nigeria, Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance, E-Waste Producers Responsibility Organization of Nigeria, and Rural Women Energy Security.

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