Member Area

Person in the Port (PiP)

The Step Inititiative - Always stay informed

The StEP Project “Person in the Port (PiP)” has been satisfactory completed by StEP members BCCC Africa and UNU with support from US-EPA and BMZ/GIZ and the final report is now available here (directer link zum report - http://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:6349/PiP_Report.pdf).

Findings of this 16 months lasting work show that

  • Thousands of tonnes of e-waste are shipped illegally to Nigeria inside used vehicles
  • about 3/4 of 60,000 tonnes of used electronic equipment shipped to two ports in Lagos in both 2015 and 2016 originated from EU ports;
  • At least 15,400 tonnes were non-functional
  • TVs, monitors are largest category (almost one-third by weight), followed by photocopiers, fridges
  • 70% — 41,500 tonnes — of the UEEE reaching Lagos each year arrived inside vehicles destined for Nigeria’s second hand auto market, an import route never before thoroughly assessed
  • Overall, around 77 % of the assessed UEEE imports originated from ports in the EU, mainly from Germany and the United Kingdom (around 20 % each), followed, with some distance by Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain and Ireland (between 9 % and 6 %). China and the USA each account for around 7 % of the total imports.
  • Almost all of the importers or their agents are Nigerians, of which 80% are located within the Lagos metropolis