The Lagos State Government says it will procure 100 new compressed natural gas (CNG) compactor trucks in 2026 as part of a 10-year plan to overhaul the state’s waste management fleet.
A statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday by the Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Kunle Adeshina, said the Managing Director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Muyiwa Gbadegesin, announced the plan during a media parley on Wednesday in Alausa, Ikeja.
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Mr Gbadegesin said the government intends to introduce between 200 and 250 additional trucks annually under the long-term programme.
“To keep Lagos clean. We still need compactor trucks. Altogether, we need about 2000 trucks. 1000 for day to day fleet and 1000 for back up,” he said.
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The initiative aligns with Lagos’ broader shift to cleaner CNG-powered vehicles and ongoing reforms aimed at reducing emissions and improving waste-management efficiency.
New billing system, PSP reforms
The LAWMA boss said the investment in new trucks would be supported by a revised state-wide billing system. Under the model, households will be enumerated and billed directly by the government, while payments to Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators will be tied to verified service delivery through an automated platform.
“We believe Lagos residents are ready to pay for waste collection if they get good service, and that is what we will ensure going forward,” he said.
He disclosed that LAWMA terminated the contracts of 22 PSP operators this year for underperformance, adding that the service slots have been reassigned to new operators “ready to do business.”
The measures follow earlier state-level efforts to tighten waste governance and reduce informal waste handling across Lagos.
500 tricycle compacting units planned
Mr Gbadegesin also announced that the state plans to deploy 500 mobile tricycle compactors by mid-2026 to improve access in hard-to-reach communities.
He said narrow roads and inaccessible neighbourhoods limit the effectiveness of conventional compactor trucks.
He cited a pilot programme in Ibeju-Lekki, introduced through a collaboration between the local council chairman, Sesan Olowa, and a private entrepreneur, describing it as successful.
“We have now decided we can replicate this in other parts of Lagos,” he said, adding that local governments have pledged support for the expanded model.
Experts say tricycle compactors could help tackle Lagos’ daily waste burden, estimated at more than 13,000 tonnes.
Mr Gbadegesin added that integrating tricycle units into PSP operations could also absorb informal cart pushers.
“The PSP operators can buy some, engage cart pushers and put them on a salary. We can now have a more efficient system for Lagos,” he noted.
Enforcement, waste sorting and landfill closures
The LAWMA chief urged residents to stop dumping refuse on roads and in waterways, warning that violators would face sanctions under state sanitation laws.
He advised households to embrace waste sorting, saying “90 per cent of what you throw away has value,” and noted that the state is promoting a “waste-to-wealth” approach to strengthen recycling.
He also confirmed that Lagos has begun the process of decommissioning the Olusosun and Solous 3 landfill sites within an 18-month window, two months of which had already elapsed.
The closures are part of a wider state plan to phase out open dumps and transition to material-recovery facilities and energy-conversion plants.
Lagos is positioning waste-to-energy systems as the next phase of its environmental strategy.
“In Lagos, we must move to a point where we ban landfill sites, and that is what we are moving towards as a state government,” Mr Gbadegesin said.
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