Nigeria`s WEEE market : business opportunity for Finnish SMEs

Abstract

The act of indiscriminate and irresponsible disposal of e-waste, coupled with governmental inefficient and unconventional systematic control of it in any society is undeniably dangerous to the society`s economy and public health. The untreated ewastes pose tremendous threat to public health and the quality of life of the people. It also destroys and renders the environment inexplicably unproductive. In addition, it is the socially and economically weaker populace of the society, which suffers the most in such situations.

In as much as these are true, the economic benefit of WEEE through recovery and recycle of the materials, which can later be reused and re-sold as secondary materials is a good source of job creation for individuals and revenue generation for businesses.

In this paper, the problem of e-waste and its treatment as related to waste management in Lagos State of Nigeria has been critically examined. The existing environmental management system and framework seems mostly regulatory in nature and focuses on command and control approach.

With the increasing number of the people buying electrical and electronic equipment, Nigeria is used as a global dump ground for e-wastes, and weaknesses in governmental waste management processes has made WEEE become a serious dilemma for local, state and federal governments of Nigeria. Earlier the environmental and sustainability management of e-waste has received low priority. Lack of financial resources, institutional weaknesses, improper choice of technology and public unawareness towards WEEEM are some of the factors that contributed to the upward slide of seeing ewaste as a problem in Nigeria. However, the Lagos State government, understanding both the environmental problem as well as the economic benefits, has set up a project with incentives to attract both local and foreign investors.

The findings in this paper relate to evaluation of the situation of WEEEM in Lagos, with bases on online published information and field trip to Nigeria in June 2011. As a result of this, an approach to design a sustainable environmental business model and market entry is evaluated.