- Reveals plans to acquire 2,000 compactors to manage waste
The Lagos State Government has revived the monthly environmental sanitation exercise to ensure healthy living of the residents.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, announced the reintroduction of the monthly exercise.
Gbadegesin highlighted the scale of the problem, noting that Lagos – home to over four million households – generates between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste daily. These are collected by 450 Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators.
“The PSP operators had the capacity to collect only between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes daily out of the 13,000 tonnes generated. The balance is going into the drains, canals, lagoons and wetlands, among others. We have about 12 per cent of wetlands in Lagos, and people have been dumping waste on the wetlands,” he said.
Gbadegesin explained that the government would require a minimum of 2,000 compactors to properly manage waste, citing the dual challenges of human activity and inadequate infrastructure. He urged Lagos residents to embrace the government’s waste-to-wealth initiative and to avoid littering, noting that “about 90 per cent of waste generated in the state has value.”
He emphasized the limitations of Lagos’ land, saying: “With the State’s land limitation, it will be extremely difficult for the state to create new landfill sites because of its aquatic nature.” He further explained the transition in Lagos’ approach to waste management, adding, “We are moving from a linear waste management system to a proper waste management system that is environmentally friendly and sustainable, in a way that waste is now seen as a resource. The quantum and the quantity of waste that will end up in the landfills will be to the barest minimum.”
On infrastructure, the LAWMA CEO said: “The biggest issue right now in waste management is the infrastructure. When I talk of infrastructure, I am talking about the equipment and facilities that we will use to collect, transport, treat and dispose of the 13,000 tonnes of waste generated daily in the State. The infrastructure includes the whole logistics chain from the bins. Risk management begins from the containerization, the households, business and the industry.”
He added that the State currently has 80,000 smart bins being rolled out but needs far more. “We have four million Lagos households. Residents should therefore ensure regular payment of their bills to enable PSP operators to function more effectively,” he said.
Addressing the performance of PSP operators, Dr. Gbadegesin disclosed that 22 operators had been removed and their slots reassigned due to inefficiency. He promised that LAWMA would leverage the support of Local Government Chairmen to ensure a cleaner Lagos, urging them to take responsibility for waste management and the regulation of street trading in their communities.