In a bid to make good use of the high solid waste generated, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) said it has concluded plans to permanently shut down the landfill sites at Olusosun and Solous in Igando and transform them into renewable energy stations.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, made this at a One-Day Stakeholders’ Forum on Sustainable Waste Management in Lagos State, held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island Lagos, pointing out that the initiative was in line with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s agenda to tackle environmental and health concerns associated with these sites.
LAWMA boss disclosed that the shutting down and evacuation of the waste at the dumpsites would commence in December 2024 and last for 18 months, emphasising his agency’s commitment to creating a cleaner Lagos while collaborating with stakeholders for a sustainable environment.
“We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ZoomLion, which is a Ghanaian company, and we have partnered with them to establish material recovery facilities. Even before that, they are going to cover the landfills in Olusosun and Solous within the next 18 months.
“They will cover it with geotextiles, place solar panels on it, and then construct transfer loading stations, one at Solous and another at Olusosun so that we can take the waste in trailers to material recovery facilities that will be constructed in Ikorodu and Badagry.
“The recovery facilities look like factories; you won’t see the waste, and at the facilities, the bulk waste can then be circulated into various means, such as metals and plastics; that is the plan. We do not want waste on the street of Lagos, and we no longer want dumpsites; we want material recovery facilities,” Gbadegesin stated.
Speaking on the forum, the LAWMA boss said that the whole essence was to incorporate the stakeholders to embrace the ‘adopt a bin’ initiative of the government and support the environmental revolution strides of the state government towards creating wealth and ensuring a cleaner environment.
Gbadegesin noted that the state at the moment only recycles 8 per cent of the recyclable materials, expressing the belief to increase the efforts to over 20 per cent in the next three years.
“We have introduced a two-bin program, which means that every household and business should have a minimum of two bins, one for organic/general waste and another for dry recyclable waste like plastics, paper, and metals,” he said.
Executive Director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mr Kunle Adebiyi, said solid waste management had been a pressing issue in the modern world driven by rapid urbanisation, industrialisation, and population growth.
Adeniyi, while noting that an average of 13,000 tonnes of waste were generated daily in the state, said that such a forum would allow a stakeholder to jointly examine all workable options available and fine-tune strategies to ensure the state remained on top of the situation.
In their separate presentations, some of the local and international stakeholders highlighted some benefits of recycling and explained how to leverage technology partnerships to revolutionise waste collections in Lagos State.
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