The impact of circular economy on economic development of Nigeria. The specific objectives include to ascertain the impact of plastic waste on poverty rate in Nigeria and examine the impact of organic waste on poverty rate in Nigeria. The study adopted pre-test estimation of descriptive statistics, unit root test, cointegration test to ensure that the data set is stationary and fit for the analysis. Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) method of analysis was adopted for the estimation. The study uncovered that both in short and long run estimation, plastic waste recycling for the period of this study had positive and insignificant impact on poverty rate in Nigeria, organic waste recycling for the period of this study had negative and insignificant impact on poverty rate in Nigeria. The study concluded that circular economy does not have significant impact on economic development of Nigeria. This study recommended among others that the Nigerian government should implement federal prohibition and taxation on the use of plastic, ocean clean-up, technological innovation that will support the recycling industry in Nigeria, and the need for additional plastic research. Nigeria can apply the most recent plastic waste management strategies of developed countries like European and Asian nations as a model and adopt them to reduce plastic pollution.

Key word: Circular economy, Economic, Plastic waste, Organic waste, Poverty rate