The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday called for a better recycling of plastic waste in the country.

He made the proposal while speaking at an event to mark this year’s World Environment Day (WED) in Abuja.

This year’s theme for the World Environment Day is: ‘Beat plastic pollution’.

Emefiele said there was need for stakeholders to take every necessary step to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on the environment.

According to the Central bank governor, plastic is a global problem as it makes up 85% of marine waste.

Stating data from the World Economic Forum, Emefiele said that only 14% of plastic packaging was collected for recycling globally as of 2016, resulting in a loss of between $80bn and $120bn annually.

As a result of the negative impact of plastic waste on the environment, the Apex bank head said that the management of the Central bank had made a decision to replace bottled water with re-usable water dispensers and encourage the use of paper bags as alternatives for plastic bags.

He also said that the apex bank had approved the recycling of paper waste into tissue paper, which would be donated to the society as part of its corporate social responsibility.