By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Lagos State Government is set to phase out its ageing landfills and replace them with material recovery facilities and waste-to-energy plants as it intensifies efforts to address the state’s waste management challenges.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos Waste Management Authority, Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this at LAWMA’s mid-year media parley held at the agency’s office in Ijora-Olopa, Lagos, on Tuesday.
Gbadegesin said major dumpsites had faced serious challenges in recent months, particularly during the rainy season, including flooding of access roads and disposal platforms, as well as declining capacity.
“The capacity of the dump site itself to receive waste is limited now because it’s approaching the end of life. It can properly be called an expired landfill,” he said.
He said LAWMA had introduced engineering interventions to extend the operational life of the affected sites while developing alternative facilities.
According to him, the rehabilitation of Road E, the second access road to the landfill, and the construction of two disposal platforms had improved access and reduced truck turnaround time.
He said the intervention, supported by ZoomLion Nigeria, increased weekly truck trips from 1,394 to 1,781.
Gbadegesin also disclosed that LAWMA was developing transfer loading stations at Olusosun and Solous, with the Olusosun facility expected to handle 2,500 tonnes of waste daily in a controlled indoor environment.
He said the existing dumpsites would be rehabilitated after decommissioning through measures including gas extraction and the installation of geotextile materials, while some could be converted to other waste management facilities.
The LAWMA boss said the state was also planning a waste-to-energy plant in Badagry, adding that the projects would take at least three to five years to complete.
“We want to do another waste-to-energy plant in Badagry.
These are long-term projects, three to five years minimum, but the planning has already started for that,” he said.
He added that material recovery facilities of about 50 hectares each were being developed in Ikorodu and Badagry to process bulk waste and separate organic waste, plastics, metals and textiles.
Gbadegesin said about half of the waste fraction was expected to comprise organic materials, which would be converted to compost for farmers and gardeners, while plastics would be used to produce waste bins.
On waste collection, he said LAWMA had added 10 trucks to its fleet, six of which were deployed for direct house-to-house collection in parts of Mushin without PSP operators.
He said the agency was also expecting 150 additional compactor trucks by the end of the year, comprising 114 ordered by the 57 local governments and LCDAs and 36 by the state government.
Gbadegesin also disclosed that the state had commenced reforms of the PSP sector, involving 438 operators across 377 wards.
He said six working groups had been established to review the programme and submit their reports within one month, after which the recommendations would be presented to the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, the State Executive Council and the House of Assembly.
“The goal is that following this reform, we’ll have a restructured PSP programme that will have the necessary investment, the necessary infrastructure, and the necessary equipment in the form of trucks to serve the needs of Lagosians with respect to the collection of waste,” he said.
On enforcement, Gbadegesin said five enforcement units operated daily in collaboration with relevant agencies to tackle indiscriminate waste disposal.
He said 259 environmental offenders were prosecuted and convicted between January and July, attributing the conviction rate to the use of sufficient evidence, including video and photographic evidence.
He said LAWMA was also working with local governments and community stakeholders to improve public awareness and encourage proper waste disposal.
Gbadegesin said the agency’s long-term goal was to move Lagos from a linear waste management system to a circular economy through waste sorting at source, reduced reliance on landfills, material recovery facilities, transfer stations, waste-to-energy plants and biogas facilities.
“The goal of our policy direction now is to take Lagos from a linear system of waste management to a circular system.
And that requires investments, it requires engagements, it requires amendments to our law,” he said.
He assured that the state would continue rehabilitating existing dumpsites during the transition while developing modern facilities for waste treatment, recovery and disposal.
