The Lagos State government on Tuesday charged everyone in the textile industry to collaborate with the government to tackle textile and fashion wastes and adopt circular fashion practices across the metropolis.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Engr. Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, made the call during the year 2025 World Clean Up Day celebrations held at the NECA House, Alausa, Ikeja.
He said it was necessary to raise awareness to educate consumers, designers, and policymakers about the importance of circular fashion practices
He added that Circular fashion practices offerred a promising solution by reducing waste, promoting sustainability, and encouraging eco-friendly fashion products.
He said the 2025 World Clean-up Day was being celebrated across 180 countries with the theme “Tackling textile and fashion waste through circular fashion” saying the theme was apt because the fashion industry had been said to be one of the largest polluters globally, with textile waste contributing significantly to environmental degradation.
According to him, in Nigeria, textile and fashion waste is gradually becoming a significant environmental concern, driven by the rapid growth of the fashion sector and a “take, make, dispose” approach.
Akodu emphasized that the results in massive amount of waste, with the fashion industry generating 92 million tons of waste annually.
He said the main challenges of the particular sector included limited public awareness about textile recycling and its benefits; inadequate recycling facilities and collection points; sorting complexity; limited access to recycling technologies and limited market demand for recycled textile products.
He said everyone must join the quest for a cleaner environment and all must be reminded that clean-ups alone would not solve the waste crisis.
“Everyone need to spark change in the society by promoting individual behaviour change, raising awareness about efficient waste management and diverting attention to critical issue of textile and fashion waste management”.
Akodu said the event had given opportunity to discuss and bring up some potential solutions ranging from effective recycling programmes to collect and process textile waste.
Others include upcycling by transforming discarded textiles into new, valuable products as well as loop textile production and recycling ways of adopting a circular economy model that promotes closed loop textile production and recycling.
“Let us jointly drive the industry change that will encourage brands to adopt circular business models and invest in sustainable textile materials. Together, we can make a difference and ensure that our planet thrives for generations to come,” he said.
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Earlier in his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Dr. Tajudeen Gaji said the event was observed annually to highlight the importance of sustainable waste management and inspire collective action to create a cleaner, healthier planet through awareness about reducing waste pollution.
He said the government remained committed to promoting sustainable practices, reducing waste and secure a clean, healthy as well as sustainable environment conducive for economic growth, tourism and overall well-being of all the citizens.
The Guest Speaker, Mrs. Sidiqat Folami, who spoke on the theme noted that some of the problems encountered in the industry include heavy carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, along with other greenhouse gases such as methane (CH₄), are released across the entire textile value chain — from pre-production and production, to in-use and post-use stages
According to her, to boost textile wastes management and Circular Fashion in Nigeria, there is the need for the Advocacy & Sensitization, Lead campaigns with practitioners to educate the public, Promote circular fashion adoption through awareness and Empower communities with behavioural change initiatives.
