Lagos Govt Not Planning To Reverse Styrofoam Food Packs Ban- Environment Commissioner

The Lagos state Government clarified on Thursday  that the total ban on the usage and distribution of Styrofoam food packs  in the state will not be reversed but that the concerned stakeholders will be given opportunity to take necessary steps to comply with the ban  by making it come into force in three weeks’ time.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, declared this during a consultative meeting with representatives of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and the Restaurant and Food Services Proprietor Association of Nigeria  in  Alausa, Ikeja.

Wahab said enough damage had been done to the health of residents of the state as well as the environment, noting that “three weeks is ample of time for the products already in the state to be exhausted if indeed those who bought them are committed’.

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‘You will all agree with me that for over three years, this conversation has been ongoing, waiting for when the big bold step of enforcement will be taken’ he said.

He added that the number of lives that have been lost through the effect of the use of styrofoam, the destruction of the ecosystem and aquatic lives as well as the menace brought upon the environment could not be quantified.

The commissioner also submitted that the lives of the residents are far more important than the profit producers make from the continued production of styrofoam.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Dr Omobolaji Gaji had  noted that the decision to ban the product was reached following the menace caused by styrofoam in the environment, saying the product is not recyclable but rather remain the same after hundreds of years.

Recall that Lagos state government had imposed a ban on styrofoam the packaging commonly used for takeout food at restaurants in the country with ‘immediate effect’ last wek.

The state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab,  had disclosed this in a statement he issued on Sunday which was also posted on X by the ministry’s spokesman, Kunle Adeshina.

The ministry  had noted that the use of single-use plastics and styrofoam has caused a menace in the environment- Team@orientactualmags.com
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