Climate change professionals have advocated a total ban on the production of single use plastics to mitigate the effect of climate change.

The experts made the call during a webinar titled “Embracing Zero Waste: A Path to Addressing Climate Change” organized by the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) on Wednesday.

In her presentation, Ms Mariel Vilella, Director, Global Climate Programme Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), said plastic production and pollution resulted in greenhouse gas emissions at each stage of its lifecycle.

Vilella stressed the need for effective waste management policies in Africa, which would promote zero and reduced plastic waste.

Generally, she said the waste sector was the third largest source of anthropogenic methane that contributed roughly 20 percent of all such emissions and had 82 times more warming power than carbon dioxide.

This, she said, made it an extremely dangerous greenhouse gas and a super pollutant.

“Seventy per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from product life cycles – the stuff we extract, transport, and use and how we waste it,” she said.

Dr Chima Williams, Director of the ERA/FoEN during his remarks said a lot of policies that would outlaw single use plastics were needed in the global south.

The call for ban, he said, was necessary due to the problems associated with the use of the product such as flooding that always lead to perennial loss of lives and properties in the developing countries.

Mr Leslie Adogame, Executive Director, Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev) Nigeria,advocated policies that would fill the gap between waste management vis-a-vis plastic waste management in the country.

He suggested cross-fertilization of ideas across Africa on how to leverage on zero waste to address the climate crisis.

Single-use plastic products (SUPs) are used once, or for a short period of time, before being thrown away.

The impacts of this plastic waste on the environment and our health are global and can be drastic.

Single-use plastic products are more likely to end up in our seas than reusable options.