Over 12,500 employed by Lagos Recycle Initiative in 3 years – LAWMA MD

By Lukman Olabiyi, Lagos

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

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

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

“What have we done since then? 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 – N170, not because of inflation, but because of understanding the value chain and the need for us to grow it,” Odumboni said.

He said with collaboration with stakeholders 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.

Applauding the Sanwo-Olu administration on the interest in recycling, he said the interest wasn’t for money but for a sustainable environment.

He called on Lagosians to join the vision, stating that it was important for all to embrace the waste sorting system to operationalise and optimise the benefits of Waste to Wealth initiative.

Odumboni reiterated that from 1st October, the State Government would commence the enforcement of the waste bin directive demanding all households to possess and maintain a waste bin in their homes, mentioning that all defaulters risk prosecution.

He enjoined Lagosians to maintain a double sorting waste system of having a general waste bin and a recycling waste bin.

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“From the 1st of October this year (2022), every household must own a waste bin. It is mandatory, it is a must, it is not negotiable. You just have to have a waste bin. It is in the law of the State.

“You must have a waste bin by the 1st of October because if do not have, you will be served an abatement notice and then from the 4th of January (2023), you will stand to be prosecuted if you cannot provide evidence of your bin. You have three months to sort yourself out to get a bin for your household,” the LAWMA boss said.

The President, Lagos Recyclers Association (LAGRA), Dr Femi Adegoke, said the initiative as a fundamental development drive for waste to wealth has grown since 2019.

Speaking, the Managing Director, Polysmart Packaging Limited, Mr Wasiu Balogun, said it was important for Lagosians to optimise the deliverables of the value chain.

In his address, the Executive Director, LAWMA, Mr Adekunle Adebiyi, said the agency with all stakeholders is more determined to ensure that all efforts were “felt by residents across the length and breadth of Lagos State and most importantly the environment.”

“Lagos as a whole generates an estimated volume of 13,000 metric tons of waste daily. The daily influx of people from other states in search of greener pastures has resulted in a high volume of waste generation with plastics accounting for about 17percent of this,” he said.

According to him, Indiscriminate and incessant littering of the environment with plastics has resulted in the blockage of waterways and drainages, which sometimes result in flooding, destroying properties and affecting lives.

The trend, he said, has necessitated the need recycling system to convert waste to wealth.

“Most times plastic waste ends up in the ocean, polluting it, threatening ecosystems, killing biodiversity, and poisoning the food chain.

“If this trend continues, our living and livelihood will 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, reduce and recycle so that we can decrease the volume of waste that goes to the dump site.

“In the recent time, the narrative is changing moving from straight line economy to circular economy where waste is seen as a resource in line with global practice,” he said.