By Ashley Emenike
Abstract
Plastic pollution is no longer simply an environmental inconvenience; it has evolved into a global and geological reality. Across Nigeria’s landscapes—from the Niger Delta to the Benue Basin—plastics are infiltrating sedimentary records, contaminating aquifers, weakening land stability, and permanently altering soil structure. Worldwide, more than 516 million tonnes of plastics will be consumed in 2025, with projections reaching 1.2 billion tonnes annually by 2060. Microplastics have now penetrated not only ecosystems but the very human body: arteries, lungs, brains, and even breast milk.
This Position Paper explores the under-addressed geological dimensions of plastic waste in Nigeria, calling for integrated geoscientific strategies, policy innovation, and leadership to mitigate its growing consequences. Nigeria’s plastic pollution challenge is part of a global crisis—but with decisive leadership, targeted geoscientific intervention, and a strengthened National Action Plan, the problem can be fixed. The RineAsher Wildlife and Nature Conservation Foundation (RWNCF) advocates for urgent inclusion of geological science in Nigeria’s plastic pollution response as part of a broader national and global solution.
1. Introduction: Plastic as a Geological Marker
For decades, plastic waste was regarded as a nuisance primarily affecting surface litter. But today, it is increasingly classified as a geological agent of change. Scientists now recognize plastics as technofossils—human-made, persistent markers embedded into the Earth’s stratigraphy (Zalasiewicz et al., 2016).
In Nigeria, unregulated urban growth, indiscriminate dumping, poor waste management infrastructure, and weak recycling frameworks have led to plastics accumulating in soils, floodplains, riverbeds, and reclaimed lands. These synthetic sediments distort natural stratigraphic records, compromise land-use stability, and endanger long-term national development.
1A. The Global Plastic Emergency
Plastic pollution has become one of the defining global environmental threats of the 21st century. Its impacts are now omnipresent:
- Over 516 million tonnes of plastics will be consumed globally in 2025; by 2060, this figure may rise to over 1.2 billion tonnes annually (OECD, 2024).
- Roughly 13 million tonnes of plastic infiltrate global soils annually (UNEP, 2021).
- Plastics have been found at the Mariana Trench (deepest ocean point) and Mount Everest (highest mountain peak).
- Microplastics are detected in human arteries (Harvard, 2024), lungs, brains, and breast milk.
Globally, recycling rates remain alarmingly low: only 9% of all plastics produced are recycled (OECD, 2023). Even recycling cannot resolve the geological infiltration already underway. Thus, plastic pollution presents not just a waste problem—but a planetary geological transformation.
In response, the United Nations Environment Assembly launched negotiations in 2022 to create an international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution—a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform humanity’s relationship with plastics.
2. Microplastic Infiltration into Nigerian Soils In Nigeria, microplastics (<5mm) are increasingly embedded in agricultural belts, coastal deltas, and even remote hinterlands. These particles alter soil mineralogy, reduce water retention capacity, and disrupt microbial activity—affecting food security and crop yields (de Souza Machado et al., 2018).
The Niger Delta region, with its unique hydrocarbon-rich sediments, is especially vulnerable to compounded contamination from both petroleum and plastics.
3. Hydrogeological Contamination
In flood-prone regions like Rivers, Benue, and Lagos States, plastics contribute to runoff pollution, leachate infiltration, and groundwater contamination. Studies confirm that plastic degradation products are seeping into aquifers, endangering drinking water sources for millions (UNEP, 2021). Boreholes in both urban and rural Nigeria are increasingly vulnerable to unseen microplastic penetration.
4. Urban Geology and Technofossils
In rapidly expanding urban centers like Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja, and Kano, core samples now reveal stratigraphic layers of sand, gravel, concrete—and plastics (Simon et al., 2018). These technofossils complicate construction, civil engineering surveys, and urban safety planning.
5. Geotechnical Risks to Infrastructure
Plastics compromise soil compaction and load-bearing properties (Boucher & Friot, 2017), threatening long-term structural integrity for homes, roads, bridges, and industrial facilities. In reclaimed lands filled with plastic-laden materials, subsidence, foundation instability, and cracks have already been observed. This has serious implications for Nigeria’s infrastructural investment and housing safety.
6. Mapping and Monitoring
RWNCF recommends an immediate nationwide geospatial mapping initiative using:
- Satellite imagery and remote sensing
- Plastic infiltration detection modeling
- Integration into Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)
- Identification of plastic “hotspots” for targeted remediation (Jambeck et al., 2015).
7. Geo-based Mitigation Strategies
The following urgent geoscience-driven mitigation strategies are proposed:
- Develop engineered plastic containment zones with impermeable geological barriers.
- Promote subsurface bioremediation informed by Nigeria’s soil microbial ecosystems.
- Embed plastic distribution data into geological and urban planning maps.
- Evaluate the stability of all landfill and reclaimed lands using advanced geotechnical methods.
8. Policy Recommendations
Nigeria must advance to a Plastic Pollution Action Plan 2.0, complementing existing national policies, to fully integrate geological and hydrogeological realities:
- Institutionalize geological risk assessments for all waste management, landfill, and reclamation projects.
- Strengthen data-sharing partnerships between geological institutions, environmental agencies, and conservation organizations.
- Build national capacity for geo-monitoring technologies, including remote sensing and subsurface plastic tracking.
- Ensure Nigeria’s active participation in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) working toward a global treaty, with Nigeria’s unique geological vulnerabilities fully represented.
- Expand curricula in universities and public education programs to incorporate the geological dimensions of plastic waste.
- Establish specialized research funds for plastic-geology interaction studies.
Conclusion
Plastic pollution is no longer just a solid waste problem—it is a sedimentary legacy that threatens the very foundation of Nigeria’s soil, water, infrastructure, food systems, and public health. As the United Nations mobilizes the world to negotiate a binding global plastic treaty, Nigeria has an opportunity to lead—not only in regulating surface waste but in protecting its geological future.
As Co-founder of the RineAsher Wildlife and Nature Conservation Foundation, I call on Nigeria’s policymakers, scientists, and communities to recognize that healing the land beneath our feet requires both urgency and leadership.
We can no longer afford to only sweep our streets; we must begin to heal our soil.
The global crisis of plastic pollution is one we can fix.
The time to act is now.
References
- Boucher, J. & Friot, D. (2017). Primary Microplastics in the Oceans: A Global Evaluation of Sources. IUCN.
- de Souza Machado, A. A., et al. (2018). Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems. Science.
- Jambeck, J. R., et al. (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science.
- Simon, N., et al. (2018). No Time to Waste: Tackling the Plastic Pollution Crisis. WWF International.
- UNEP (2021). From Pollution to Solution: A global assessment of marine litter and plastic pollution.
- Zalasiewicz, J., et al. (2016). The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene Review.
- OECD (2024). Plastics Outlook Database.
- Harvard University (2024). Microplastics in arteries linked to heart disease risk.
Ashley Emenike
Geologist and Drilling Fluids Engineer
Environmental and Good Governance Advocate
Co-founder, RineAsher Wildlife and Nature Conservation Foundation (RWNCF)
Tel: +234-8038975824
Email: info@rwncf.org