Nigeria is set to fully implement its End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Policy in 2026, marking a significant shift in how the country manages automotive waste, environmental pollution, and vehicle recycling. The policy, coordinated by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), is designed to regulate the handling, dismantling, and recycling of old and decommissioned vehicles while unlocking economic opportunities across the automotive value chain.
According to a document from NADDC outlining the implementation roadmap, the 2026 rollout will activate existing ELV and automotive waste recycling regulations nationwide. The policy will apply to vehicle manufacturers, importers, owners, collectors, dismantlers, and recycling operators, establishing clear responsibilities for how vehicles are managed once they reach the end of their usable life.
NADDC said the focus of the implementation phase will be on enforcement, public awareness, and capacity building. Planned sensitisation campaigns will target vehicle owners, mechanics, transport unions, and the wider public to highlight the environmental, safety, and economic benefits of structured vehicle recycling. These campaigns are expected to address long-standing informal practices that have dominated Nigeria’s vehicle dismantling and scrap markets.
Alongside public awareness, the council plans to roll out training and capacity-building programmes for recycling plant operators and auto technicians. These programmes will introduce standardised, environmentally sound methods for dismantling vehicles, handling hazardous materials, and recovering reusable components.
“The implementation of the End-of-Life Vehicle policy in 2026 will focus on putting approved ELV and other automotive waste recycling regulations into full operation across Nigeria,” NADDC stated. The council added that the policy is expected to reduce environmental pollution, improve automotive waste management, generate revenue, create jobs, and support the sustainable development of Nigeria’s automotive sector.
Licensing and certification will be another core pillar of the rollout. NADDC said it will work with the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to license and certify ELV collectors, dismantlers, and recycling plants. This is aimed at improving compliance, ensuring environmental safety, and bringing structure to a sector that has historically operated informally.
To support oversight and long-term planning, the government plans to establish a national data management system to track vehicles, certified recycling facilities, and trained technicians. The system is expected to improve monitoring, enforcement, and policy decision-making as vehicle volumes continue to rise.
The council also disclosed plans to promote research and development in vehicle recycling and to establish a pilot ELV recycling plant. The pilot facility will be used to test operational viability, safety standards, and efficiency before wider scaling across the country.
The urgency of the ELV policy has increased as Nigeria’s vehicle imports continue to rise sharply. Data show that passenger vehicle imports reached N527 billion in the third quarter of 2025, more than double the N254.6 billion recorded in the first quarter of the year. Total vehicle imports in the first nine months of 2025 stood at about N1 trillion, up from N894 billion over the same period in 2024.
Used vehicles accounted for a significant share of these imports, with N234.7 billion worth brought into the country, including N184 billion from the United States alone. Nigeria’s heavy reliance on imported used vehicles from markets such as the US, Dubai, and South Africa has intensified concerns about unroadworthy cars and future volumes of automotive waste.
Earlier, NADDC Director-General Joseph Osanipin said the ELV policy is intended to formalise Nigeria’s informal vehicle recycling market and modernise the automotive industry. He noted that studies indicate more than 85 per cent of ELV components are reusable or recyclable, presenting a major opportunity for value recovery.
Osanipin added that the programme could generate over N150 billion annually while creating thousands of jobs across collection, dismantling, recycling, and downstream manufacturing. As part of the broader reforms, Nigeria is also expected to introduce mandatory pre-export certification for used vehicles from 2026 to curb the importation of end-of-life and unsafe vehicles.
As implementation approaches, stakeholders across the automotive, environmental, and transport sectors will be watching closely to see how effectively the policy is enforced. If executed as planned, the ELV framework could play a critical role in cleaning up Nigeria’s urban environments, improving road safety, and turning vehicle waste into a structured economic asset.
