Sort waste for recycling, LAWMA urges Lagos residents

The Managing Director, Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, has urged residents to sort waste at source by dropping all recyclable items in one bag and other waste items in another for easy recycling.

Gbadegesin made the appeal on Thursday during a road show and sensitisation of the Lagos Blue Box initiative for sorting of waste for recycling, held along Orile/Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the LAWMA family together with some environmentalists spoke at Orile bus stop during the road show.

Gbadegesin said the agency embarked on the massive sensitisation programme to draw attention of residents in the area to the need for proper sanitation and cleaner surroundings.

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“Today, we have come to sensitise the community on how to maintain a clean environment because a clean environment is the beginning of good health for all Lagosians.

“If you don’t have a clean environment, you cannot enjoy good health.

“You were keeping one waste bag before but now you will be keeping two bags; one bag coloured, for your recyclable materials like plastic bottles, cans and water sachets, while the other black bag is for general waste.

“That is why we are distributing the bags to you for the Blue Box programme which the governor launched last week.

“I also want you to stop the idea of using refuse to reclaim land. This is an unwholesome practice that is harmful to the environment and must be discontinued,’’ the managing director said.

He said the agency, as a follow-up to the recent executive order on sanitation by Gov. BabajideSanwo-Olu, had commenced massive clean-up exercises along Orile/Lagos- Badagry Expressway.

The LAWMA chief said that the clean-up was to ensure that the stretch was rid of black spots as well as all forms of environmental nuisance.

Gbadegesin urged residents in the area to support government efforts by embracing the right environmental practices, to protect them from dangers of environmental pollution.

He said the authority had commenced distribution of trash bags in line with the blue box programme, to enable residents sort their waste properly for recycling.

Also speaking at the occasion a renowned Nigerian Actor and LAWMA Ambassador, FunshoAdeolu, said he joined the campaign to promote environmental sustainability in the state.

Adeolu pleaded with Lagos residents to support LAWMA’s efforts at restoring the environment through proper waste management practices like waste sorting for recycling.

Also during the sensitisation exercise, Ohekwuru Tony, a Child Environmental Advocate with `Children for Cleaner Lagos’, also educated residents on how to dispose their waste properly, as well as the importance of waste segregation for recycling.