In recent years, the world is moving towards an age where there is a global understanding of the environment and climate change, however, Styrofoam are plastics waste and constitute to a higher portion of these waste. They are commonly used in Nigeria as food packs, cups and other disposables by food vendors becoming a daily necessity linked to problems associated with waste management.
The use of these materials should definitely be banned as quickly as possible. According to different studies, styrofoam degradation in the environment may take more than 50 years. In the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic and Haiti are suffering terribly from contamination of rivers, lakes, roadsides and oceans with styrofoam. When burned, they release toxic fumes. Most of these materials ultimately end up in the ocean where many large mammals and fish may suffer drastically from ingesting these materials. Even whales have died from clogged intestines. A recent study by CSIRO (https://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2020/14-million-tonnes-of-microplastics-on-seafloor ) has indicated massive accumulations of microplastics at the ocean floor. The time for changing is now. Ideally, the changes should be implemented from both directions: top-down, driven by illuminated and decided governmental action (usually slow and compromised) AND bottom-up, driven by educated consumers who reject not only buying, but also using these materials at all opportunities. You may want to support grassroot activities pushing for immediate bans. Sea turtles, dolphins, whales, plus countless other animals and, of course, future generations of humans will thank you for it.
Nigeria has locally available natural materials that can be used as packaging. Move towards that.
Banning styrofoam and replacing it with another non biodegradable material is not the answer either. It must be replaced with material that can biodegrade, or material that is reused repeatedly.
Plastic straws should be banned too. You need to start, and the options will naturally come. So do start it.
Nigeria has a strong palm oil industry. The fibers from palm oil empty Fruit Bunch can be converted into biodegradeable packs.
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