LAWMA handles 16,000 tonnes waste daily, expands infrastructure
The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) says it is strengthening the state’s waste management system to cope with the disposal of between 13,000 and 16,000 metric tonnes of waste generated daily by more than 24 million residents.
The Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this at the agency’s 2026 Mid-Year Media Parley in Lagos.
Gbadegesin said the scale of waste generation in the megacity required sustained investment in infrastructure, logistics, enforcement and citizen participation.
According to him, the authority is implementing a combination of operational interventions, infrastructure investments, enforcement measures and public engagement to improve waste management across Lagos.
He said the strategy was also designed to prepare the state for a future beyond dependence on conventional dumpsites.
The LAWMA boss said recent heavy rainfall had affected access to parts of the Olusosun disposal facility, slowing truck movement and increasing turnaround time.
He said the development temporarily affected waste evacuation but noted that the government responded with engineering interventions to restore operational efficiency.
Among the immediate measures, he listed the rehabilitation of Road E, construction of new disposal platforms, improved truck circulation and expanded operational access.
Gbadegesin said the interventions had transformed Road E from an operational bottleneck into an opportunity to improve access and waste disposal efficiency.
He said the rehabilitation restored access, created additional disposal platforms and improved operational efficiency at the facility.
The LAWMA chief also highlighted the agency’s ongoing investment in Transfer Loading Stations (TLS), saying two major facilities were being developed at the Olusosun and Solus III dumpsites in partnership with Zoomlion Nigeria Ltd.
He said each of the new TLS facilities was designed to handle approximately 2,500 metric tonnes of waste daily.
The facilities, he explained, would strengthen waste logistics and reduce pressure on disposal facilities by improving the movement of waste from collection points to appropriate disposal and processing locations.
Beyond the transfer stations, Gbadegesin said Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) were being developed in Ikorodu and Badagry to receive processed waste from the TLS facilities.
He added that material recovery hubs were also being created in each of the 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas in the state.
The development, he said, formed part of the authority’s broader strategy to move Lagos towards a circular economy in which waste would increasingly be treated as a resource rather than simply discarded.
Gbadegesin said LAWMA was also intensifying enforcement against indiscriminate waste disposal through Project WISE operations.
He listed illegal dumping enforcement, market closures for persistent violations, arrests and prosecution of environmental offenders among measures being deployed to improve compliance.
He said the authority was maintaining a zero-tolerance position toward indiscriminate disposal of waste, stressing that infrastructure alone could not solve the state’s waste management challenges without behavioural change among residents.
According to him, LAWMA is therefore expanding advocacy and public engagement programmes across schools, markets, estates and communities.
He said the programmes were focused on encouraging behavioural change, waste sorting and recycling education.
The managing director said effective waste management required active participation by residents and stakeholders, noting that citizen behaviour remained a critical component of the system.
He also identified strategic partnerships as central to LAWMA’s efforts to achieve sustainable waste management.
He said such partnerships, involved Zoomlion Nigeria Ltd., Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators, the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN), Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas, as well as other private-sector partners.
Gbadegesin said the partnerships would help strengthen operational capacity and improve the sustainability of waste management in Lagos.
He said LAWMA’s medium- and long-term direction was focused on preparing Lagos for “life after dumpsites” through a circular economy roadmap.
He said under the emerging model, waste management would increasingly involve recovery, recycling and the conversion of waste into useful resources.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the authority’s strategy, therefore, combines immediate interventions to improve waste evacuation with investments intended to fundamentally change how waste is collected, transferred, recovered and ultimately disposed of.
With Lagos generating as much as 16,000 metric tonnes of waste daily, the scale of the challenge remains enormous.
The development of TLS facilities capable of handling about 5,000 tonnes daily collectively, alongside MRFs and recovery hubs across the state, represents a significant infrastructure component of the authority’s response.
The agency says the ultimate direction is a transition from dependence on dumpsites toward a circular economy in which waste is recovered, processed and reused, while reducing the environmental pressure associated with conventional disposal.
By Fabian Ekeruche
(NAN)
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