The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) says it is upgrading waste management facilities in the state with the introduction of 100 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) compactors.
LAWMA Managing Director, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, who disclosed this in an interview on Monday, February 24, 2025, in Lagos, said LAWMA would be introducing CNG compactors which are environmentally friendly and cheaper to operate.
“This year, we will be bringing 100 compactors, next year, we will be doubling that. Over the next five years, our vision is to upgrade completely the waste collection fleet in Lagos.
“I should mention that these trucks could also use biogas to be produced from organic wastes, both liquid and solid,” Gbadegesin said.
Gbadegesin said that LAWMA partnered with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) to complete a feasibility study on waster management.
He said the feasibility study was in partnership with the Swedish Government.
Gbadegesin said the feasibility study showed that most of the water and solid organic wastes could be used to produce biogas for LAWMA and LAMATA fleets.
He said that LAMATA would be bringing in about 2,000 CNG/biogas powered fleets from next quarter.
“We are bringing these things and making them available to the Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators.
“As you are aware, the PSP operators are the major partners of LAWMA; we are a regulating agency.
“We rely on them for the job of collecting wastes from households.
“When I talk of upgrading waste management infrastructure, I also mean the introduction of transfer loading stations,” Gbadegesin said.
He said that LAWMA would revive the already existing transfer loading stations in the state.
Gbadegesin added that the authority would construct new ones in partnership with Zoomlion Nigeria.
He explained that Zoomlion was investing its own money with the construction of new transfer loading stations and material recovering facilities.
“Material recovery facility is a new kind of facility in waste management that we don’t have before now.
“Material recovery facility is a better alternative to the landfill because at that material recovery facility, we are able to separate the waste into various streams that have value including organic.
“These can be used for composite or biogas or used for animal feeds, then we can also separate the metals; separate out the plastics into textile waste,” Gbadegesin said.
He added that 95 per cent of the things thrown away could be transformed into wealth.
“This is something that will give a lot of people employment and also wealth.
“That is why we call it waste to wealth. “It is not waste unless you waste it,” Gbadegesin said.
By Fabian Ekeruche