Over 12,500 employed by Lagos recycle initiative in 3 years – LAWMA MD

By Lukman Olabiyi

No less than 12,500 people have been employed within the value chain of the Lagos Recycle Initiative (LRI) in three years.

Managing Director, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Ibrahim Odumboni, made the disclosure at the event commemorating three years of LRI.

He stated that the state had grown from the three official recyclers, who formed the pioneering stakeholders as of September 5, 2019, to 157 registered recyclers in Lagos.

“There were three official recyclers then (2019), but now we have over 157 registered recyclers in three years. We’ve also created job opportunities for over 12,500 persons in the last three years.

“The values of recyclables have gone up from N15 on that day, (and) now, that same product is worth N150-170, not because of inflation, but because of understanding the value chain and the need for us to grow it,” Odumboni said.

He projected that about 170 recycling centres would be established in the state before the end of 2023, warning all producers who have not joined the clean-up of plastic pollution in the state to act responsibly by keying into platforms created for the same.

He urged stakeholders to embrace the waste sorting system to optimise the benefits of waste-to-wealth initiative, warning that the Lagos State directive demanding all households to possess and maintain a waste bin in their homes would be enforced from October 1.