The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has given every household in the state until Oct. 1, 2022, to have a waste bin or face prosecution.
Mr Ibrahim Odumboni, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, gave the directive on Friday in Lagos during the third anniversary of Lagos Recycling Initiative (LRI).
Odumboni reiterated that every household in Lagos must have a waste bin by Oct. 1 or risk prosecution.
He added that by May 2023 the value of plastics per kilogramme would rise to N250.
Odumboni said that the Lagos State Government was deliberate in its vision to launch a modern recycling plan for the state.
According to him, when the initiative was launched in September 2019 many did not believe in the vision.
Odumboni said that three years down the line, that vision had now attracted many investors in the waste value chain, turning waste to wealth.
He expressed gratitude to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who keyed into the vision of reducing the landfills through the recycling initiative even before he was sworn in as governor.
Odumboni said that after the launch of the blue box bin in September 2019, a new philosophy of waste management was ushered into the state which is gradually attracting many investors.
He said that the authority went to town with the gospel of waste separation and sorting at the source.
He said that the initiative had given birth to the Lagos Recyclers Association which had over 100 members and created about 12,500 jobs in the waste value chain.
Earlier, the Executive Director of Finance, LAWMA, Mr Adekunle Adebiyi, in his welcome address, said that Lagos as a whole generated an estimated volume of 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily.
Adebiyi said that the daily influx of people from other states in search of greener pastures resulted in high volume of waste generation with plastics accounting for about 17 per cent.
“Indiscriminate and incessant littering of the environment with plastics have resulted in blockage of waterways and drainages, which sometimes result in flooding, destroying properties and affecting lives.
“Most times, plastic waste ends up in the ocean, polluting it, threatening ecosystems, killing biodiversity, and poisoning the food chain.
“If this trend continues, life and livelihood would be in jeopardy and all the dumpsites will run out of space in less than five years’ time.
“Hence, the need to create value from waste through reuse, reduction and recycling so that we can decrease the volume of waste that goes to the dump site.
“In the recent time, the narrative is changing and moving from straight line economy to circular economy where waste is seen as a resource in line with global practice,” Odebiyi said.
In his goodwill message, Dr Femi Idowu-Adegoke, the President, Lagos Recyclers Association, said that the Lagos recycling initiative has experienced huge growth.
Idowu-Adegoke said that waste sorting protects water bodies and inhabitants and helped to reduce carbon footprint.
He congratulated the Lagos State Government and LAWMA for taking recycling in the state seriously, which he said was in tandem with global best practices.
The event was graced by stakeholders in the waste management value chain.
