One of the world's most polluted cities has banned single-use plastics. It's not so easy

Key Points

• Lagos, Nigeria has enacted a ban on single-use plastics, aimed at addressing its severe plastic pollution problem, but enforcement remains weak and alternatives are lacking.
• The city, with over 20 million residents, contributed 870,000 tons of global plastic waste in 2024, highlighting the urgent need for effective waste management solutions.
• Despite the ban, many businesses still use single-use plastics, indicating challenges in compliance and the absence of affordable alternatives for shop owners.
• Environmental activists warn that without strong enforcement and significant improvements in waste management systems, the ban's effectiveness will be limited.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian shop manager Olarewanju Ogunbona says he uses Styrofoam and plastic packs at least five times a day — nothing unusual in the megacity of Lagos, one of the world's most plastics-polluted urban areas.

The city's over 20 million people contributed 870,000 tons of the world's 57 million tons of plastic waste in 2024. Lagos state authorities last month imposed a ban on single-use plastics, but residents say weak enforcement and the absence of alternatives have weakened its effectiveness.

Under the law that kicked off on July 1, the use of single-use plastics such as cutlery, plates and straws is banned and offenders risk their businesses being shut down. However, other forms of plastics, which make up a smaller percentage of the city’s waste, are still in use.

The ban is far from being fully implemented, as some shops still display Styrofoam packs on their shelves.

“Sellers are still using it very well,” said Ogunbona, who continues to buy his Styrofoam-packed meals.

A global treaty on plastics

In Geneva this week, countries including Nigeria are negotiating a treaty to end plastic pollution. Such talks broke down last year, with oil-producing countries opposed to any limits on plastic production. In large part, plastics are made from fossil fuels like oil and gas.

Lagos generates at least 13,000 tons of waste daily, almost a fifth of which is plastics, officials have said. In the absence of a proper waste management system, most of it ends up in waterways, clogging canals, polluting beaches and contributing to devastating floods.

Although the state government has promoted the ban on single-use plastics as a major step, watchdogs are skeptical.

“Its effectiveness is limited without strong enforcement, affordable alternatives for low-income vendors and meaningful improvements in the city’s overwhelmed waste management systems,” Olumide Idowu, a Lagos-based environmental activist, told The Associated Press.

The Lagos state government did not respond to a request for comment.

Scraping off labels with razor blades

With the quest for a better life driving millions of Nigerians to Lagos, some in the city are finding ways to manage the pollution. Recent years have seen a rise of private waste managers and sustainability groups helping to tackle the crisis.

At a sorting site in Obalende, a bustling commercial suburb adjacent to the upscale Ikoyi neighborhood, two women with razor blades scraped labels from plastic soft drink bottles. They uncapped the bottles and threw them into different nets, ready to be compressed and sold for recycling.

Competition has become tougher as more people join the work, the women said. The informal network of waste collectors sell to, or sort for, private waste management companies. They can make around around 5,000 naira ($3.26) a day.

But far more work is needed.

Manufacturers have a key role to play in tackling the plastic waste problem, according to Omoh Alokwe, co-founder of the Street Waste Company that operates in Obalende.

“They need to ... ensure that the plastics being produced into the environment are collected back and recycled,” Alokwe said.

Experts also call for a behavioral change among residents for the law banning single-use plastics to be effective.

Lagos residents need alternatives to plastics, shop owner Ogunbona said. Otherwise, “we will keep using them."