Nigeria’s abattoir waste could become a source of renewable energy under a new partnership between two agencies seeking to improve environmental management, the authorities have said.
The National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) and the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) have formalised the collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA).
The initiative centres on anaerobic digestion, a process that breaks down organic materials in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas and digestate, which can be processed for other uses.
At the signing ceremony in Abuja on Thursday, NBRDA Director-General, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, said the agency would provide technical support for the collaboration.
Mustapha identified the conversion of organic residues into useful products as an opportunity to address environmental concerns associated with abattoir waste disposal.
The director-general said materials targeted for processing include animal blood, rumen contents, manure, wastewater and other biodegradable residues generated during slaughtering and meat processing.
According to him, beyond energy generation, the approach could help reduce the accumulation of untreated organic waste around slaughter facilities, where poor disposal practices affect sanitation and surrounding water resources.
Dr Yakubu Baba, the EHCON registrar, said the agreement demonstrated how cooperation between public institutions could help address environmental health problems while creating opportunities for productive resource use.
Baba also pledged the council’s commitment to implementing the partnership in line with the terms of the agreement.
A Joint Technical Committee will coordinate implementation, including the identification of suitable facilities, capacity building, technology transfer, and the assessment of environmental and public health outcomes.
The NBRDA director-general said one practical step would be to begin with selected abattoirs, assessing their daily waste volumes, available space, water supply and energy needs before installing suitable digestion systems.
He said the assessments would help determine the appropriate plant capacity and establish whether the resulting gas could serve nearby facilities or support specific operations within the abattoirs.
The agencies could also promote the safe handling and testing of digestate before its use as organic fertiliser, ensuring that treatment and quality requirements are met.
However, both agencies recognised that the initiative’s effectiveness would depend on reliable equipment, trained operators, adequate maintenance funding and safeguards against the unsafe handling of untreated waste.
For communities around abattoirs, successful implementation could mean better waste management and reduced pollution, while operators could benefit from alternative energy sources and potential revenue from properly processed by-products.
Mustapha told reporters that the partnership presented an opportunity to link biotechnology research with practical environmental services.
He, however, acknowledged that measurable benefits would depend on the scale of implementation and sustained monitoring.
