The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has stepped up measures to end the cycle of dumping, evacuation and redumping at recurrent waste blackspots across Lagos through improved collection services, targeted enforcement, infrastructure upgrades and community engagement.
The Authority said the approach was designed to address not only accumulated waste at blackspots but also the operational and behavioural factors responsible for their recurrence.
In a statement issued on Monday by the Director of Public Affairs, Mukaila Sanusi, PhD, the Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said repeated evacuation alone could not provide a sustainable solution to the problem of recurring waste on road medians and other unauthorised locations.
Gbadegesin said LAWMA was combining the clearance of waste backlogs with measures to ensure that waste generated within surrounding communities was properly captured, collected and evacuated.
“Our approach is changing from simply clearing waste backlogs to addressing what causes them to return. Where there are service gaps, we are working with stakeholders to improve collection; where there is indiscriminate dumping, we are enforcing compliance; and where locations have been cleared, we are putting measures in place to prevent redumping,” he said.
Gbadegesin said the approach was already being implemented in parts of the state, including Ayobo-Ipaja, where sustained evacuation of accumulated waste was being combined with enforcement against illegal waste collectors and defaulting markets and commercial facilities.
He added that in Mushin and Odi-Olowo, following the clearance of waste backlogs from major road medians, LAWMA was deploying collection trucks into inner streets to improve residents’ access to direct waste collection services.
According to him, the measure was also aimed at reducing the tendency of residents to move waste from their homes and businesses back to previously cleared road medians.
The LAWMA boss said the recent upgrade of critical infrastructure at the Olusosun Disposal Facility had further demonstrated the importance of strengthening the wider waste evacuation chain.
He said improvements in access and truck turnaround at the facility had contributed to increased operational capacity.
Gbadegesin also disclosed that the Authority was strengthening collaboration with Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators through a participatory reform process focused on improving route management, service delivery, fleet capacity, technology-driven monitoring, accountability and the long-term sustainability of the sector.
He said LAWMA was simultaneously intensifying enforcement against illegal waste operators, unauthorised markets and other activities that contribute to indiscriminate dumping.
He stressed that community and stakeholder engagement remained important to ensuring that locations cleared of waste remained clean.
Gbadegesin said behavioural change was also a critical component of the Authority’s strategy, noting that indiscriminate dumping often continued despite the availability of approved waste collection arrangements.
“A clean city cannot be sustained by government action alone. We need residents, businesses, markets, PSP operators and communities to take responsibility for how waste is generated, handled and disposed of. Clearing a location only for it to become a dumping point again is not sustainable,” he said.
He maintained that the ultimate goal of the Lagos State Government was to achieve sustainable waste management driven by the circular economy.
He said ongoing initiatives in that direction included the development of transfer loading stations and material recovery facilities, as well as the promotion of waste-to-wealth and waste-to-energy initiatives.
Gbadegesin reaffirmed LAWMA’s commitment to a coordinated and data-driven approach to recurrent waste hotspots, combining operational interventions, enforcement, stakeholder engagement and infrastructure improvement.
He urged residents to support the effort by patronising approved waste collection services, reporting service gaps and rejecting indiscriminate dumping.
He stressed that achieving a cleaner Lagos remained a shared responsibility.
