By Fabian Ekeruche
Lagos State is shifting from dependence on conventional dumpsites to a waste-management system centred on waste recovery, recycling, transfer stations and energy generation, Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has said.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this on Saturday, during an interview section at TV Central, while speaking on the state of Lagos waste management.
Gbadegesin said the reforms were part of efforts to address the increasing pressure on the state’s waste infrastructure and to develop a more sustainable system for managing waste.
He said the new approach would reduce the quantity of waste ultimately taken to dumpsites.
‘’It will reduce it by introducing facilities where waste could be transferred, sorted and recovered for reuse or conversion to other useful products, ‘’ he said.
He identified the development of Transfer Loading Stations (TLS) and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) as major components of the ongoing reforms.
The managing director said the TLS would fundamentally change the way waste was handled at existing disposal locations.
‘’It will do this by allowing waste to be transferred under a controlled system before being moved to facilities where recyclable and recoverable materials could be extracted.
‘’The approach will particularly help to address the pressure on Olusosun, which has for years served as one of Lagos’ major waste disposal facilities, ‘’ he said.
Gbadegesin said the authority was working to ensure that Olusosun no longer functioned simply as a place where large quantities of mixed waste were dumped.
He explained that the proposed system would see waste arriving at the transfer station, being loaded into larger vehicles and transported to recovery facilities for further processing.
The LAWMA boss said the Olusosun TLS was designed to handle about 2,500 tonnes of waste daily.
He said another transfer facility was also planned for Solous, as part of the broader strategy to decentralise waste movement and reduce pressure on the state’s existing disposal infrastructure.
The reforms, he said, would be complemented by MRFs, where waste would be separated into different streams, including organic materials and recyclable items.
Gbadegesin said the objective was to recover value from waste instead of treating all waste as material meant for final disposal.
He said organic waste could be processed into compost or used for energy production, while materials such as plastics and metals could be recovered for recycling.
“The strategy represents a shift from the traditional “collect, transport and dump” approach to a system in which waste is increasingly treated as a resource,” he said.
The managing director also disclosed plans by the authority to expand waste-to-energy initiatives as part of the long-term solution to Lagos’ waste challenge.
He said LAWMA was exploring the conversion of organic waste into biogas, adding that discussions and feasibility work had already been undertaken on projects that could generate energy from waste.
According to him, such initiatives will provide an alternative outlet for part of the waste currently destined for dumpsites, while contributing to Lagos’ energy needs.
He said the state could no longer rely indefinitely on traditional landfills because of the enormous quantity of waste generated daily.
Other challenges, he said, include limited land availability and the ageing nature of some existing disposal facilities.
According to Gbadegesin, Lagos generates between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste daily.
That, he said, made it necessary to develop infrastructure capable of managing the volume beyond simply providing additional dumping space.
He said the waste generation figures illustrated the scale of the challenge facing the state and the urgency of the reforms being implemented by LAWMA.
Another critical component of the reform, he said, was increasing the number and operational capacity of waste collection trucks.
Gbadegesin said Lagos required a much larger compactor fleet to effectively evacuate waste from communities, noting that the available fleet was still below the requirement.
He said efforts were, therefore, being made to increase the number of trucks available for waste collection and transportation.
He said the reforms were also aimed at improving the efficiency of waste movement by reducing the distance of smaller collection vehicles that would have to travel to disposal sites.
Under the emerging system, he explained, smaller vehicles could discharge waste at strategically located transfer stations, from where larger vehicles would transport consolidated loads to recovery or processing facilities.
This, he said, would improve operational efficiency and enable waste collection vehicles to return to communities faster.
Gbadegesin also emphasised the need for residents to play their part in the new waste-management system by properly storing and disposing of their waste.
He said government investment in infrastructure alone would not resolve the problem, if residents continued to dump waste indiscriminately.
The LAWMA boss said the authority was, therefore, combining infrastructure development with enforcement and public enlightenment to improve compliance with approved waste disposal arrangements.
He said the long-term objective was to create a system in which less waste would end up at dumpsites, while more would be recycled, recovered or converted into useful products and energy.
Gbadegesin said the transition would require sustained investment and cooperation among the government, private waste operators, residents, recyclers and other stakeholders.
‘’The reforms are ultimately designed to make Lagos’ waste-management system more efficient, environmentally sustainable and capable of responding to the state’s continuing population and economic growth.
‘’With Lagos generating up to 15,000 tonnes of waste daily, the challenge is no longer simply how to dispose of the waste, but how to transform the waste-management chain.
‘’This is, so that a significant proportion can be recovered and put to productive use.
The emerging model, therefore, places greater emphasis on collection, transfer, recovery, recycling and energy generation, rather than continued dependence on conventional dumpsites, ‘’ he said.
Gbadegesin said LAWMA would continue to implement the reforms as part of the state’s broader effort to build a cleaner and more sustainable Lagos.
(NAN)
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