LAWMA says there will be a reduction in waste bills for residents who sort their waste well, while those who do not will get a rise
By Eberechi Obinagwam,
As a way of encouraging residents comply with the waste sorting before disposal initiatives, Managing Director/CEO of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Ibrahim Odumbo has said that there will be a reduction in waste bills for residents who comply, while those who do not will get an increase starting from April.
Odumbo who stated this while interacting with journalist in his office at Ijora-Olopa, Lagos appealed to estates, companies and all residents to comply while adding that LAWMA is engaging in recycling as a veritable tool to tackle the challenge of plastic pollution. He says the state generates about 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily with plastic materials constituting seventeen percent.
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In his words, he said: ”What we face in Lagos is challenging. In fact, Lagos is 5th largest economy in Africa; and population wise, we have over 25 million people living in the city. Scientifically, we have estimated that each individual generates about 0.69 kg daily. That is what we are dealing with – over 13,000 metric tonnes of wastes daily, seventeen percent of those are plastic related wastes,”
He further said that recycling initiative for waste management had gained traction since the inception of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration with the number of recycling companies operating in the state growing from only three to 78.
” Since the launch of the recycling initiatives by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, we have grown from three recycling companies to 78 recycling companies and still counting. We currently have more than 600 aggregators, and over 6000 jobs created in the sector so far. So you can see that we have started a movement and a growth. It is over two years now and the progress that is being made is enormous,” he said.
He however, reiterated the massive impact of recycling on the lives of many citizens with the creation of jobs to alleviate unemployment challenges, and the positive impact on environmental sustainability, adding that more opportunities would still be created.
Also, he announced that the agency, as part of efforts to expand the recycling initiative, would partner with the BASF Group, on a project to convert waste to chemical, aimed at reducing the environmental impact caused by plastic waste in the state and called on corporate organisations to join forces with the Authority to create awareness among residents on the need to be actively involved in recycling with attendant benefits for the people and the environment.
