By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Government has identified sustainable waste generation and management as one of the ways to increase its Internal Generated Revenue (IGR).
Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement on circular economy and building environmental resilience, the General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Dr Dolapo Fasawe and the Chief Resilience Officer, Lagos State Resilience Office, (LASRO), Folayinka Dania, said that efforts are in top gear to ensure that about 14,000 tonnes of waste generated daily in Lagos are put into good use.
Different experts who spoke on the theme of the stakeholders’ engagement titled: “Facilitating the Transition into Circular Economy and the Building of an Envronmentally Resilient Lagos State”, identified many benefits the state government could derive from proper waste management.
According to Fasawe, Nigeria is accustomed to a linear economy, which means one way, and that a circular economy would allow everyone to put everything to good use by ensuring that waste is not wasted.
“It is an economy where, from conception, you’re already thinking sustainability and you want to know what your end product would be. Plastic is not totally a bad thing, but when it is not properly disposed, it clogs our drainage system and causes flooding. So, we are saying when you use plastic, reuse it and recycle it. You can use it up to ten times, and there are off takers in this country; if you need a list, come to LASEPA. “
For her part, Dania said the circular economy is about reducing waste to the barest minimum. She said that the program is around mobilizing stakeholders to key into the state’s agenda on circular economy because it is not something government can do alone.
“All stakeholders must be involved in this process and this program is about facilitating that transition, telling people what it is we plan to do as a State and getting their insights and contributions on how the state can do this better and ways that we can work together.
“What we are trying to do is tilted towards ensuring that no waste gets to dumpsite but as it is first things first, we are saying can we reduce plastic waste which would reduce waste in landfills, flooding and some emissions that goes into the atmosphere from burning of these plastics and overall a clean air for the city and a healthy living environment for all.
“We have launched an Eko Circular podcast to educate people on circular economy and what they can do. We have equally launched a Lagos circular challenge which is supposed to help people think about how they can help Lagos to become more environmentally friendly in terms of reducing waste,” she said.
Executive Director, Nondunna Limited, Nonny Ugboma, said Lagos, with a population of over 20 million, is the right place to promote circularity, saying millions of Naira worth of raw materials are being wasted on a daily basis in waste generation.