Lagos Plans to Swap Outdated Dumping Grounds for Modern Recycling Facilities and Energy-Generating Waste Processing Centers

The Lagos State Government is taking steps to eliminate its outdated landfills and introduce material recovery facilities and waste-to-energy plants, as part of its efforts to tackle the worsening waste management crisis in the state, according to Muyiwa Gbadegesin, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos Waste Management Authority.

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Gbadegesin made this announcement during LAWMA’s mid-year media parley, which was held at the agency’s office in Ijora-Olopa, Lagos State, on Tuesday, and focused on the agency’s efforts to enhance waste management through infrastructure development, innovation, enforcement, and the transition to a circular economy.

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The state has faced significant challenges at its major dump sites in recent months, particularly during the rainy season, with the situation being worse this year, and the challenges include flooding of access roads and disposal platforms, as well as the dwindling capacity of some landfills to receive waste.

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Gbadegesin stated that the capacity of the dump site itself to receive waste is limited now because it’s approaching the end of life, and can properly be called an expired landfill, and the state has embarked on engineering interventions to extend the operational capacity of the affected sites while developing alternative waste management facilities.

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The rehabilitation of Road E, the second access road to the landfill, and the construction of two disposal platforms have improved access and reduced turnaround time for waste trucks, with the intervention, carried out with the support of ZoomLion Nigeria, contributing to an increase in the number of truck trips to the site, rising from 1,394 in one week to 1,781 the subsequent week.

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The agency is developing two major transfer loading stations at Olusosun and Solous, with the Olusosun facility expected to receive 2,500 tonnes of waste daily in a controlled indoor environment, and once the existing dump sites are decommissioned, they will be rehabilitated through measures including gas extraction and the use of geotextile materials.

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Some of the decommissioned dump sites could be converted into other waste management facilities, and the state is also planning to develop waste-to-energy plants, including one in Badagry, which are long-term investments that will take at least three to five years to complete.

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Gbadegesin said the state wants to develop another waste-to-energy plant in Badagry, and the planning has already started for that, with material recovery facilities covering about 50 hectares each being developed in Ikorodu and Badagry to process bulk waste and separate it into organic waste, plastics, metals, and textiles.

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About half of the waste fraction will comprise organic materials, which will be converted into compost for farmers and gardeners, while plastics will be used to produce waste bins for residents, and the agency has increased its waste collection capacity with 10 additional trucks.

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Six of the new trucks are being used for direct house-to-house collection in areas of Mushin without PSP operators, and the agency is also expecting 150 additional compactor trucks by the end of the year, with 114 ordered by the 57 local governments and LCDAs and 36 by the state government.

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The state has begun the process of reforming the PSP sector, involving 438 operators covering 377 wards across Lagos, with six working groups established to review the sector and submit their reports within one month.

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The recommendations will be presented to the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, the Executive Council, and the House of Assembly for approval, with the goal of having a restructured PSP programme that will have the necessary investment, infrastructure, and equipment to serve the needs of Lagosians with respect to waste collection.

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Gbadegesin stated that the policy is zero tolerance for indiscriminate waste disposal, and anyone who dumps waste in public spaces will face enforcement to the fullest extent of the law, with five enforcement units operating daily in collaboration with relevant agencies.

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Between January and July, 259 environmental offenders were prosecuted, with all 259 convicted, and the convictions were secured because the agency ensured it had sufficient evidence before taking offenders to court, including video evidence, photo evidence, and catching offenders in the act.

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LAWMA is working with local governments and community stakeholders to improve public awareness and encourage residents to dispose of their waste properly, with the agency’s long-term objective being to move Lagos from a linear waste management system to a circular economy.

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This will be achieved through waste sorting at source, reduced dependence on landfills, material recovery facilities, transfer stations, waste-to-energy plants, and biogas facilities, and Gbadegesin assured that the state will continue to rehabilitate existing dump sites during the transition while developing modern facilities for waste treatment and disposal.