To make good use of the high 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 it to renewable energy stations.

The Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this at a one-day stakeholders’ forum on Sustainable Waste Management in Lagos State, which was held in Lagos.

In a statement on Friday, he said the initiative is in line with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s agenda to tackle environmental and health concerns associated with these sites.

Gbadegesin revealed that the shutting and evacuation of the waste at the dumpsites would commence in December 2024 and last for 18 months. He emphasised the agency’s commitment to creating a cleaner Lagos and also collaborating with stakeholders for a sustainable environment.

“We recently signed a memorandum of Understanding with Zoom Lion, which is a Ghanaian company; 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 take the waste in trailers to material recovery facilities that will be constructed in Ikorodu and Badagry.

“The recovery facilities look like factories; you won’t see the waste and at the facilities, the bulk waste can then be circulated into various means, such as metals, plastics. That is the plan; we do not want waste on the street of Lagos and we no longer want dumpsites, we want material recovery facilities,” he said

He added that the state at the moment only recycles eight per cent of the recyclable materials, while hoping to increase the efforts to over 20 per cent in the next three years.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has said it has partnered with three financial institutions to boost financial inclusion among women traders including providing loans to them to expand their businesses.

The Special Adviser to Lagos State governor on Sustainable Development Goals, Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya, who disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos, said it is part of the responsibility of her office to promote human capital development through advocacy programmes.

Finnih-Awokoya, flanked by the representatives of the financial institutions partnering the government on the project, said that the programme is part of the overall mandate of her office to eliminate financial exclusion in the state.

She said that to be enlisted for the programme, would-be beneficiary women traders must have National Identification Number (NIN) and Lagos State Resident Registration Agency (LASRRA).