Elegushi Beach is Choking on Plastics: Can Clean Up Exercises Save it?

Situated on the Lekki Peninsula, accessible via a short drive from the Lekki–Epe Expressway in Lagos Island, the Elegushi beach – privately owned by the Elegushi Royal Family – is one of the high spots in Lagos, Nigeria and attracts nearly 40,000 weekly visitors.

A June 16, 2025 article in The Washington Post remarked that “Elegushi Beach embodies the spirit of Lagos in all its vibrancy”.

War of Attrition

But for Iya Tope, a local fisherwoman at Elegushi Beach, it is none of those things. It’s all about survival – and her quest against losing the battle.

She has seen the once premier beach and relaxation spot slowly dwindle to a shadow of itself.  All because of plastic waste.

“Waste washed up from the ocean crowds our nets and chokes the shoreline”, she says. “We used to rely on fishing to feed our families. Now, plastic bottles and slippers come up more often than fish”, she remarks.

It is not a unique experience as her story echoes across the shorelines.

“It has become so terrible, says Mrs. Folake Abiodun, a longtime Elegushi resident. “The plastic waste at Elegushi keeps getting worse daily. It blocks drainages, makes the beach dirty, and affects our daily income”, she concluded.

Community Reprieve

But hopes of reprieve have come with recent beach clean-up exercises by various organizations; the most recent being the Vcare for Development Foundation (VCDF).

As part of their environmental sustainability measures, VCDF, on Saturday, August 2nd 2025, undertook a beach cleaning exercise at the Elegushi beach. On completion, a total of 438 kilograms of waste was collected, including:

• Single-use plastics (e.g., plastic bottles, bags, straws, sachet water wrappers),
• Food wrappers and packaging,
• Styrofoam containers,
• Glass bottles and metal cans,
• Fishing gear debris (nets, ropes),
• Textiles and old footwear.

According to the VCDF team, “The essence of the clean up is to reduce plastic and marine waste along the coastline, protect biodiversity, and promote sustainable environmental practices within coastal communities”.

Interestingly, the clean-up exercise doesn’t stop at picking up waste. It is sorted and upcycled to make chairs and tables. The rest is disposed through the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).

The collected waste is also categorized according to type and this provides a context for policy formulation and understanding the Lagos waste profile.

An Unending Crisis

Plastic waste, globally, has become an insidious pollutant with statistics showing that almost every human on the planet has some volume of microplastic in their blood streams and lungs.

Nigeria holds the unenviable position of being the 9th largest contributor to plastic waste, producing 2.5million tonnes annually.

Lagos state holds a notorious position in this regard as the state produces about 15percent of plastic pollution in Nigeria, a daily output of about 13,000 tonnes. With an estimated 10perent of this waste recycled or captured, a huge percentage of the remaining waste find their way to the city’s coastlines and beaches, drains and waterways — an ever-constant threat to biodiversity, sea life, human health and livelihoods dependent on fishing and coastal activities.

The Plastic Push-back

Elegushi Beach, since the reclamation of Bar-beach and public restriction to Kuramo had gained a reputation as the preferred beach destination for beach lovers across Lagos.

But all that has changed. Within the last few years, the beach has become a shadow of its former self, clogged with plastic waste; from plastic bottles to ‘nylons’, styrofoam and other kinds of indiscriminate waste materials.

This is mostly caused by:

• Improper waste disposal – Many residents and beach visitors dispose of trash carelessly, often due to lack of public bins or awareness.
• Unregulated beach commerce – Vendors often use and discard single-use plastics without structured waste management.
• Urban run-off – Drainage systems carry inland waste directly into coastal areas during rainfall.
• Low public awareness – Many are unaware of how their daily habits contribute to ocean pollution.
  Inadequate recycling infrastructure – Limited access to recycling options leads to increased landfill and ocean dumping.

Studies have shown that every person living in Lagos discards an estimated 10 water bottles per day, contributing to the huge plastic waste pollution in the state.

Other studies have found that microplastics – which are small plastics extremely small in size – are linked to rising cases of infertility, especially in men, low average birth weight, increased cancer and immune system weakening.

This is separate from the loss of biodiversity due to blocked sea life migration routes, microplastics in sea life, reducing birth rates and contaminating sea life.

Found in almost every aspect of human life, plastic pollution had become so endemic that in June 2024, the Lagos state government placed a ban on single use plastics and followed it up with an enforcement campaign in July 2025.

While this is a step in the right direction, indeed, it would take quite a bit of time for results to start showing up.

Corporate Support

However, activities like the beach clean-up exercise by organizations such as Lekan Bakare Foundation, Food and Beverage Recycling Association (FBRA), Vcare for Development Foundation, provide opportunities for organizations to assist in environmental sustainability and biodiversity protection.

According to research conducted, quite a number of these organizations are either in partnership or sponsored by private sector players. Prominent among them is Sterling Oil Energy and Exploration Company ltd (SEEPCO), which actively supports the Vcare for Development Foundation and others to undertake such exercises.

SEEPCO’s involvement reflects a commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices and sustainable community engagement. This is quite critical as they maintain a consistent relationship with civic society organizations in various E.S.G related interventions.

Sustainability

The campaign against Plastic Pollution in Lagos and beaches like Elegushi will be a long and drawn-out war. But it is one that must be fought with strategy, awareness and community buy-in.

Among key steps to be taken to combat plastic pollution are:

• Awareness of the harmful effects of plastic waste on residents, especially using local languages and adaptable forms of communication;
• Enforce bans or levies on items like plastic bags, straws, and styrofoam.
• Promote eco-friendly alternatives (biodegradable packaging, reusable containers).

Incidentally, some organizations have begun adopting eco-friendly practices, including SEEPCO, which now encourages the use of biodegradable packaging among vendors it supports.

While this clean up exercise and other interventions appear to hold much promise, experts stress they need to be implemented sustainably, periodically and strategically to ensure long term positive results.