Circular Economy in Mining: The Hidden Treasures of Mining Waste
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Circular Economy Concept in Mining: The article highlights the shift from the traditional ‘take-make-waste’ model to a circular economy in mining, where waste is reused, recycled, and regenerated. Nigeria’s Mining Waste Challenge: Mining activities in Nigeria, particularly artisanal operations, generate significant waste that exacerbates environmental issues such as land degradation, water pollution, and health risks. Economic Opportunities in Recycling Mining Waste: Repurposing mining waste offers various benefits, such as using tailings in construction,
Harnessing Anaerobic Digestion For Biogas Production In Nigeria
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Nigeria’s reliance on fossil fuel generated GHG emissionsof 100.389MT CO2 in the year 2022, ranking Nigeria to be 4th largest emitter of carbon in Africa. Anaerobic digesters are a great innovation for the country’s renewable energy options. Nigeria has abundant sources of organic waste suitable for biogas production. For instance cattle waste alone has the potential of yielding about 25.53 billion cubic meters of biogas about 169 541.66 MWh of electricity and 88.19
Mining without Poison: Addressing the Threat of Heavy Metals in Mining
KEY TAKEAWAYS Mining activities release toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, posing significant threats to water, soil, air, and human health. Incidents like the 2010 Zamfara lead poisoning epidemic underscore the devastating consequences of unregulated practices. Communities are affected through runoff from mining, which contaminates water sources and impacts drinking water, farming, and aquatic life. Heavy metals reduce soil fertility, disrupt agriculture, and threaten food security. Dust from mining activities contains toxic
Health And Environmental Challenges Associated with Plastic Waste
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Plastics are non-biodegradable and may progressively break down into smaller particles (micro and nano plastics) that can be trapped in water and foods without visible traces. Plastics can persist in the environment for 1000 years with only 15% of discarded plastics being recycled globally, highlighting inefficiencies in waste management. Nigeria generates over 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, and Lagos alone accounts for over 34% (870,000 tonnes) of this. Given the significant
Emerging Trends and Opportunities in Plastic Waste Recycling in Nigeria
The Foundation for Investigative Journalism reports that Nigeria is now the second largest plastic polluter in the world only behind India. TAKEAWAYS Innovative Recycling Techniques: Densification: Enhancing the economic viability of polystyrene by compressing it into blocks, easing transportation costs and making recycling more profitable Plastic pellets and flakes: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are collected, sorted, washed and processed into pellets and flakes and sold to advanced recycling companies Pyrolysis: A waste to chemical technology that converts