The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has disclosed plans to inaugurate a biogas plant at the Ketu-Ikosi fruit market.
The Assistant Director, Waste-to-Energy at LAWMA, Mr. Abimbola Ajayi, disclosed this at the sidelines of Ketu-Ikosi fruit market clean-up organised by FABE Foundation on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, in Lagos.
A biogas plant is a facility that provides oxygen-free conditions where anaerobic digestion can occur.
It’s an artificial system where you can turn waste into sustainable energy and fertilisers, with positive effects on the environment.
The FABE Foundation, in collaboration with Prudential Zenith Life Assurance, sensitised the traders on the importance of waste segregation for biogas production.
Ajayi, who commended FABE Foundation and Prudential Zenith Life Assurance for the exercise, disclosed the state government’s plans for the biogas plant.
“By December 2024, we are going to have a grand breaking ceremony of our biogas plant in this market.
“And by June 2025, we are going to inaugurate the biogas plant. We are going to have power supply to the market, majorly to the loading bay.
“And we are going to be providing 29 megawatts of electricity in this market using the same residual food/fruit waste, that we think that is waste to produce this energy,” Ajayi said.
He also commended FABE Foundation and the Prudential Zenith Life Assurance for the sensitisation programme.
“With the segregation of organic wastes, we will be able to pick pure organic waste that we need for the biogas plant we intend to set up.
“We are also going to provide a cold room for the traders to preserve their fruits with the provision of this biogas plants,” Ajayi said.
On her part, Mrs. Temitope Okunnu, Founder and the Chief Executive Officer, FABE Foundation, urged the traders to segregate their waste by taking advantage of the available biodigester at the market.
“We are here today to clean up the Ketu-Ikosi fruit market and our mission is very clear. We want to sensitise the market people where the source of fruit is, so that they can become advocates of change themselves.
“From research we know that fruit waste can actually generate biogas and compost for farming. Here at the Ketu-Ikosi fruit market we have a biodigester and it has not been utilised.
“We want a situation where the market people themselves can begin to segregate their waste into kind of waste that can actually feed into the biodigester.
“With this they can produce electricity as well as cooking gas from their organic waste. Traders can begin to tap into the biogas initiative for the cooking and also the CNG experience for that activities they embark on.
“We are here to urge the fruit traders so that they can begin to segregate and sort their waste right from the source of generation. It does not have to end up at the dump site,” Okunnu said.
She also restated the relevance of the Project Clean Air exercise to the market and state in general.
“And of course with Project Clean Air we are working on, we will ensure that all the mini-illegal dump sites are eradicated.
“And we will be transforming them into eco-gardens by making use of the compost we have gotten from the market to fertilise the gardens.
“We can now promote such practices to support the work that the Lagos State Government is already doing through LAWMA,” she said.
Also, Mrs. Charisse Ige, the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Prudential Zenith Life Assurance, said the sponsorship of the initiative was an opportunity to uphold the company’s culture of sustainability.
“Prudential has a wider strategy across its group, which operates in mainly Asia and Africa, and one of our main strategies is that of sustainability.
“We believe that we all need to be looking at sustainability in order to go ahead positively and successfully in the future.
“So, it was a great opportunity when we met the Project Clean Air team, and through our sustainability foundation called Prudence Foundation, we were able to partner and carry out this activity that you see today.
“So, in terms of waste management, we want to see mainly a reduction in carbon footprint. And in doing so, we need to watch in our emissions.
“We need to do things proactively like clean up areas that we live in. We can do simple things like planting trees, to ensure that the carbon dioxide is sucked up from the air, and so we are able to breathe better oxygen,” Ige said.
Responding, Mr. Shola Olokungboye, the Secretary-General Ketu-Ikosi Fruit Market, described environmental cleanliness as the market’s priority.
“One thing we are aware of is that the Lagos State Government does not play with environmental issues. And like it is popularly said, health is wealth.
“As a market, we have our environmental sanitation team that do monitor and work here on daily basis to ensure the market is kept clean.
“We have vehicles from LAWMA that come to carry the waste we generate in this market every day.
“We do not stop at that, when we notice any part of the market is not clean it takes treatment measures to ensure the traders comply to a sanitation laws.
“We also appreciate the organisers of this clean up, we count the great privilege seeing them help us clean our market,” Olokungboye said.
By Mercy Omoike
