To make good use of the high volume of solid waste generated in the state, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has disclosed plans to permanently shut down the landfill sites at Olusosun and Solous in Igando and transform them into renewable energy stations.
In a statement on Friday, the Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this at a one-day stakeholders’ forum on ‘Sustainable Waste Management in Lagos State’, held in Lagos.
He said the initiative aligns with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s agenda to tackle environmental and health concerns associated with these sites.
Gbadegesin revealed that the closure and evacuation of waste at the dumpsites will commence in December 2024 and last for 18 months.
He stressed his agency’s commitment to creating a cleaner Lagos and collaborating with stakeholders for a sustainable environment.
“We recently signed a memorandum of understanding with ZoomLion, a Ghanaian company,” he said. “ We have partnered with them to establish material recovery facilities.
“Even before that, they are going to cover the landfill—Olusosun and Solous—within the next 18 months. They will cover it with geotextiles, place solar panels on it, and then construct transfer loading stations, one at Solous and another at Olusosun so that we can transport the waste in trailers to material recovery facilities that will be constructed in Ikorodu and Badagry.
“The recovery facilities will look like factories—you won’t see the waste. At these facilities, the bulk waste can be processed into various materials, such as metals and plastics. That is the plan: we do not want waste on the streets of Lagos, and we no longer want dumpsites. We want material recovery facilities.”
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He added that the state currently recycles only eight per cent of recyclable materials but aims to increase that to over 20 per cent in the next three years.
