The Lagos State Government says it is adopting strategic and long-term interventions to overhaul waste disposal and management across the state.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this during an inspection tour of the Olusosun and Solous 3 dumpsites over the weekend.
A statement issued by Adekunle Adeshina, Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, quoted Wahab as saying the administration remains committed to delivering a functional, sustainable and healthier environment to residents.
According to him, the state will decommission the Olusosun and Solous 3 landfills within 18 months, transitioning them into modern Transfer Loading Stations (TLS), where waste will be sorted, compacted and redirected for recycling and resource recovery.
“The Governor has led the State Executive Council to deliberate extensively on waste issues, and Olusosun and Solous 3 always come up,” Wahab said. “It is appropriate for us as a Ministry to take on-the-spot assessments, and we have also opened new landfill sites in Badagry, Ikorodu and Epe.”
The Commissioner said the government has commenced discussions on incentives that will encourage Private Sector Participants (PSPs) to transport waste to the newly opened landfills in Ikorodu, Badagry and Epe, locations situated farther from the metropolis.
He added that a meeting, endorsed by the Governor, will be held with PSP operators this week to finalise the arrangement.
Wahab explained that LAWMA and PSP operators have held recent engagements aimed at strengthening sustainable waste processing, deploying modern landfill practices and improving structured waste carting systems across the state.
On concerns about the well-being of people working or living around the dumpsites, Wahab said the first priority is to address security issues relating to unauthorised persons on the sites.
“We have to do the enumeration. Some of them don’t have to be here in the first place,” he said. “LAWMA is taking action. If you have no business being here, leave this place. After that, we can look into the occupational health concerns—how people work on the landfills and how they should be properly kitted.”
Wahab noted that the state has already signed multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with international partners to advance waste-to-resource initiatives, including recycling, waste recovery and energy generation.
“We are migrating from the linear ‘collect and dump’ system to a sustainable circular economy,” he said. “The MoUs will focus on waste-to-wealth, generating compost, converting combustible waste to power and waste-to-energy projects.”
He added that Lagos has allocated spaces for partners working on waste conversion projects, explaining that once they begin operations and establish Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), the decommissioning and capping of existing landfills will commence.
Wahab emphasised that Lagosians must begin to recognise waste as an economic resource.
“If we treat waste as a resource for wealth and energy, the volume that ends up in landfills will reduce drastically,” he said. “Waste will be converted into other useful materials rather than being dumped.”
He assured residents that the Lagos State Government is unwavering in its resolve to create an environment they can be proud of.
The Commissioner was accompanied on the inspection tour by the Special Adviser on Environment, Engr. Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu; Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Gaji Omobolaji; Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services, Engr. Mahamood Adegbite; Managing Director, LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegeshin; and other senior officials of the Ministry and its agencies.
