Lagos generates electricity from waste, says LAWMA MD

Waste is being turned to electricity in Lagos, LAWMA boss said.

The Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, has begun electricity generation from refuse under its waste to energy programme, an official said.

The Managing Director of the LAWMA, Ola Oresanya, said this on Monday in Lagos.

“We have waste to energy where we commission electricity from our wastes at one of our markets, Ikosi market. Then we have recycling plants all over that we’ve established. Right now, for plastic recycling centres, we have four centres up and running. The tyre shredding plant is also going on to manufacture rubbers from (used) tyres and apart from that we have several other things that are really going on in that regard.’’

Mr. Oresanya said the waste to energy project would be expanded to cover more markets in 2013.

He also highlighted the activities of the authority in the out-going year, saying that the year had been eventful for the authority.

“Our core area or new ground has been in the area of recycling that we are pushing and that has been our core focus for the development of Lagos and I think that is one key area where we’ve been creative.

“We’ve been able to evolve new strategies to make people recycle in Lagos; to change the perception of people and not to see wastes as waste, so that they will see it as resource and that (buying-back), we’ve been able to do through the introduction of recycling banks all over the city. We have the buying-back programme where people bring wastes and we pay them for bringing the wastes.

“That is assorted materials like pure water sachets. Right now, you bring it we pay N30 per kilogramme – paper, pet (broken) bottles and many other things like that. We have the wastes to food programme where we encourage children to bring recycle materials and we exchange that for food packs during holiday.”

He said that the core challenge of the authority in the outgoing year was the bad attitude of Lagos residents toward waste disposal.

“Lagosians still have this bad habit of throwing wastes from their cars and dumping wastes in unauthorised areas though this has been reducing but it’s been a major challenge and we are addressing it.”