The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has urged manufacturers to ensure that their production processes and post-consumption waste are properly managed to ensure a more friendly environment for economic activities nationwide.

The Lagos State Coordinator, NESREA, Mr. Nosa Aigbedion, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos, that proper disposal would ensure a cleaner and healthier environment for life and fauna.

As a strategic option of improving industrial waste management, the NESREA coordinator canvassed the need for producers to key into the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme being promoted by NESREA.

According to him, the EPR approach is a global best practice already being implemented successfully in several developed and emerging economies to deal with environmental and health challenges of handling waste.

He clarified: ”The EPR, as a driving instrument, puts the responsibility on the producers to ensure that goods are not just produced, sent to the market, but that the post-consumption waste are also recovered from the public and recycled.

”We are looking at the possibility of a zero-to-landfill environment so that nothing valuable goes to the landfill in the name of waste. The EPR is a programme that makes the environment cleaner and healthier for all, which is the vision of the agency”, Aigbedion added.

The NESREA leader commended the Nigeria Beverages Alliance (NBA) and the Electrical/Electronic Equipment Alliance for the progress made so far with prospective Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO) in implementing the EPR programme.

This is even as he urged manufacturers that were yet to adopt the EPR provisions in the management of their waste to do so, saying that the provisions would soon be an instrument for enforcement by the agency.

Aigbedion described the commitment of all stakeholders to efficient waste management as a win-win situation for everyone, as the environment will be cleaner and healthier and informal/formal jobs will be created in the EPR loop.