The Federal Government has expressed dismay at the attitude of some commercial banks in responding to directives to rid the environment of hazardous substances and waste.

The DG/CEO National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Prof. Aliyu Jauro, made this known at the interactive session with banks nationwide, held at Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

His words: “The agency has commenced the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for different categories of waste including E-waste and Batteries as encapsulated in the National Operational Guidelines for the EPR program. This forms a greater component of the ongoing Environmental Audit (EA) carried out on the different bank branches nationwide.

“While we applaud some of the banks for complying with the environmental requirements, some others are failing to comply. The agency is dismayed at the attitude of the banks in responding to the directives to rid our environment of hazardous substances and waste. This action is in breach of the provisions of the National Environmental Regulations which attracts applicable sanctions.

“The EA exercise has brought to the attention of the Agency that most banks have in their possession, heaps of E-waste and used batteries without disposal of such in line with Environmental Best practices. E-waste and Batteries at their end of life if not quickly disposed of in an Environmentally Sound Manner (ESM), pose a substantial risk to the workers and the environment.

“As part of the efforts to ensure proper handling of E-wastes and ULABs, E-waste Producer Responsibility Organization of Nigeria (EPRON) and Alliance for Responsible Battery Recycling (ARBR), the Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) for the sectors have been established. The PRO is a third-party organization set up in collective EPR schemes to implement the programme on their behalf.

“Addressing issues of dismantling hazardous fractions of waste electronics and batteries is achievable with formal recycling and in organized settings but could be dangerous when it gets into the hands of the informal players (scavengers),” NESREA DG/CEO said. (The Nation)

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