Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Senator John Enoh, on Thursday launched the ‘End-Of-Life’ Vehicle Regulation in Lagos.
At the stakeholders’ engagement and ministerial press conference on the approved ‘End-Of-Life Vehicle Regulation (ELV), experts said the country can make N600 billion annually from converting the old, damaged and unserviceable vehicles to raw materials and other forms of wealth.
The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Oluwemimo Osanipin, said the melting industry is evolving, adding that it must adapt to technological development.
He said vehicle users should be conscious of the serviceable life spans of vehicles, adding that batteries of electric vehicles also have expiry dates.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, said when overused vehicles are imporperly discarded due to wear and tear and damage, they pose severe health issues.
The minister, who was represented by Benedict Nkechi, said “so many organ destructive diseases are traced to the improper disposal of the end of life vehicles.”
Enoh, who also presented the regulatory Information Handbook, said the potentials are huge and enormous.
He said the regulation became necessary in view of the fact that 500,000 of the 600,000 imported vehicles have limited life spans because they are second hand vehicles.
He praised Osanipin for his tireless work and leadership, assuring that government would support the reassessment of wastes for the purpose of converting them into wealth.
A paper, “A Program to Recycle End-Of-Life Vehicle in Nigeria for Environmental and Economic Sustainability of the Automobile Sector” was delivered by Dr. Fyneray Mbata, among others.
