Greening Nigeria's economy for industrial and environmental sustainability: Polyurethane production as a test case

The study focused on Nigeria's polyurethane (PU) production process as a test case. Though it is currently insignificant when viewed from a global perspective, PU production in Nigeria is not eco‐friendly. Traditionally, PU is produced by reacting petro‐based polyol with a poly‐isocyanate, which is made from amines and phosgene and are currently imported into the country. These two materials are detrimental to the human health and environment, indicating that Nigeria's PU industries need to re‐examine their production inputs for environmental compliance. The objective of this study is to review the PU industry for nontoxic reagents that could be sourced locally vis‐a‐vis overcoming sustainable development (greening the economy) challenges in Nigeria. Non‐isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) is preferred to petro‐polyurethane because, in comparison, NIPU has improved thermal and chemical resistance, porosity and water absorption, and is less toxic. Engaging local resources to produce PU is economically feasible; in addition, NIPU is relatively advantageous to human health and the environment. Aside from being economically feasible, production of NIPU in Nigeria has the propensity to greatly enlarge the growth of the existing PU industry to tremendous heights and contribute to diversifying and improving the overall economy.