Nigeria’s National Environmental (Plastic Waste Control) Regulations, 2026 set two minimum food-grade recycled PET ratios under regulation 28. The first is 25% from 1 January 2028 and the second is 50% from 1 January 2030. The regulation addresses people in the plastics value chain using single-use PET articles to package goods. It also requires local sourcing from a duly certified food-grade rPET producer and ties the material to Nigerian Industrial Standard thresholds for recycled PET bottles for food-grade applications. [1]
Separate the packaging requirement from the collection rule
The Gazette prints 9 February 2026 at the start of the instrument and 9 April 2026 on its issue cover. Neither date should be substituted for the two ratio milestones. The operative text of regulation 28 refers to single-use PET articles, while its marginal heading uses the term packaging containers. Importers and converters should confirm the treatment of borderline formats and imported finished packs with the authority. Regulation 28 does not itself spell out an averaging period or a denominator for composite packs and components. The referenced standard and applicable reporting instructions should be checked before committing to an accounting method. [1]
Regulation 23(1)(g), in the collection-system provision, contains a separate 30% reference. Its relationship to the two dated food-grade ratios requires clarification. Regulation 30 provides for a written exemption application in exceptional cases, with evidence of the absence of an alternative and proof of a Life Cycle Management permit. The provision gives no basis for treating a particular format as automatically exempt from regulation 28. [1]
The scarce input is an auditable delivery
The commercial advantage is likely to sit with suppliers that can repeatedly deliver an eligible grade, trace it to production lots and allocate enough of it to customers. Collection volumes are a weaker sourcing indicator. A Lagos collection pilot illustrates the gap between plastic collected and the quantity of a specific grade a processor can supply. A buyer facing a tighter qualified supplier pool may have to commit earlier or carry more inventory. That is a procurement scenario, not a measured national shortage.
Ask prospective suppliers for the certification scope, lot-level conformity evidence and monthly volumes they can actually commit. Test those volumes against a named converter, pack and reporting period. The next useful market signal is repeatable delivery of accepted lots backed by allocation records. A headline recycling-capacity figure cannot provide that evidence.
Sources
- Nigeria Official Gazette, S.I. No. 20 of 2026, cover and pp. B147, B153 and B155. Regulations 23, 28–30.
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