The Lagos State Government on Tuesday urged all residents to key into the state waste to wealth initiative in order to promote circular economy, which includes the reduction of quantum of wastes that end up at the landfills, reusing of wastes and recycling of waste materials for sustainable environment.
This was stated by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab when he featured on a popular TV Talkshow, saying the state government is determined to build a waste management culture which everyone must imbibe for good environmental sanitation.
He said the state officials are already going across the State (Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe) every Thursday for the Trash for Cash initiative either to give back cash to residents for wastes or to pick up wastes, stressing that once the government scales it up, there would be permanent point where residents would come to get reasonable amount in exchange for their trash.
He said the government is keen to build a waste management culture which is an initiative going on state wide saying once the citizens start receiving cash for their trash they will desist from illegal waste disposal which include dumping of waste on the roads, road setback, median, open spaces , canals amongst others.
He explained that the state is moving from the linear waste system(pick and drop) which is not sustainable and not environmentally friendly to a system where waste becomes a resource and waste can be converted into energy.
According to him, in the past two years, the government has been able to put a new narrative on the front burner, encouraging Lagosians, Nigerians, and the Global platforms to come to Lagos to collaborate with the government and help to convert waste Into compost fertilizer or recycling of Plastics.
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“You can also come to Lagos and partner with the government to use waste to generate power (Waste to Energy) or use the state compostable waste to power your machines just like what LAFARGE is doing presently and you can use the state electronic waste by recycling it to create something new” he added
He said the government had signed a concession agreement with s company called Zoom Lion to convert 4,000 tons of daily waste to wealth, 55 percent of waste to compost Fertilizer and recyclables saying what end on the landfills is less than five percent now.
He said the government is decommissioning some landfills which Olososun, Ikeja and Soluos 3, Igando because the quantum of wastes that would eventually end up at the landfills would be less than five percent and because these landfills have outlived their lifespan.
He said it is high time citizens saw waste beyond trash but as a resource which is inexhaustable as such wastes separation must be imbibed by all and start from home, saying once everyone start separating their waste, the government would scale up the waste management initiative massively.
He reiterated that the government had banned cart pushers across the state and putting the waste to wealth initiative in place to replace the activities of the cart pushers saying everyone must embrace the bigger picture of Lagos which is a clean, safe, flood free and sustainable state.
He said the effects of the ban on styrofoam and single use on flood data has shown that there is drastically a reduction in drainage clogging and flash flooding challenges caused by SUPs and Styrofoam saying that was part of the reason the government was able to host the E1 speed Boat Race recently.
He recalled that some buildings were recently removed for blocking Ikota River at Lekki and some at Oworoshoki for urban regeneration saying the shops demolished at Trade fair was as a result of violating the state law of not getting a building approval before the commencement of projects development.
Speaking on the issue of a lady who was recently apprehended on Admiralty Way for cooking, Wahab said the law is no respecter of any person and that if indeed she was cooking to feed the underprivileged, she should operate within the confines of the law.
According to him, “I will like to make a plea to Lagosians: The government is building a megacity that is environmentally friendly, sustainable and more resilient because it is a coastal state. As such residents should ensure they manage their waste in a different ways, do not dump waste illegally, do not build on canals as well as drainage alignments and avoid building on wetlands and flood plain areas.”
