The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the federal government to suspend the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency’s (NESREA) proposed ban on single-use plastics below 80 microns.
It warns that the policy could threaten jobs, investments, and stability within the manufacturing sector.
The proposed regulation seeks to prohibit the production and use of single-use plastic products below 80 microns, impose taxes on shopping bags with thickness between 30 and 50 microns, and restrict several plastic products listed under the Eleventh Schedule.
In a statement, MAN Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the measures, if implemented in their current form, could disrupt industrial production and negatively affect the plastics value chain, with wide-ranging implications for employment.
He noted that Nigeria’s plastics manufacturing industry is one of the country’s largest light manufacturing sectors, adding that abrupt policy changes could undermine existing investments and increase production costs for manufacturers.
