The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has intensified efforts to eliminate recurrent waste blackspots across Lagos State through improved waste collection, targeted enforcement, infrastructure upgrades and community engagement.
The Lagos State Government disclosed this on its official Facebook page, quoting the Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, as saying the Authority was shifting from simply evacuating accumulated waste to addressing the operational and behavioural factors that cause cleared locations to become dumping points again.
“Our approach is changing from simply clearing waste backlogs to addressing what causes them to return. Where there are service gaps, we are working with stakeholders to improve collection; where there is indiscriminate dumping, we are enforcing compliance; and where locations have been cleared, we are putting measures in place to prevent redumping,” he said.
Gbadegesin said the strategy was already being implemented in areas including Ayobo-Ipaja, where sustained waste evacuation is being combined with enforcement against illegal waste collectors and defaulting markets and commercial facilities.
In Mushin and Odi-Olowo, he said, LAWMA had deployed collection trucks into inner streets after clearing waste from major road medians. The move is aimed at improving access to waste collection services and preventing residents from returning waste to the cleared locations.
He also highlighted the recent upgrade of critical infrastructure at the Olusosun Disposal Facility, saying improved access and truck turnaround had increased operational capacity and strengthened the wider waste evacuation chain.
The measures have implications beyond keeping neighbourhoods clean, as preventing recurrent dumping can help reduce pollution of roads, drainage channels, soil and waterways, while lowering the environmental and public-health risks associated with poorly managed waste.
Gbadegesin said LAWMA was also working with Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators on reforms covering route management, service delivery, fleet capacity, technology-driven monitoring, accountability and the long-term sustainability of the sector.
He stressed that enforcement alone would not solve the problem, noting that behavioural change was equally important as some residents continued to dump waste on road medians, roadsides and other unauthorised locations despite the availability of approved collection services.
“A clean city cannot be sustained by government action alone. We need residents, businesses, markets, PSP operators and communities to take responsibility for how waste is generated, handled and disposed of. Clearing a location only for it to become a dumping point again is not sustainable,” he said.
The LAWMA chief said the long-term objective was to build a sustainable waste management system driven by the circular economy. He pointed to the development of transfer loading stations and material recovery facilities, as well as waste-to-wealth and waste-to-energy initiatives, as part of efforts to move Lagos towards greater recovery and reuse of discarded materials.
Such initiatives could reduce the volume of waste requiring final disposal, conserve resources and create economic value from materials that would otherwise be discarded. Their environmental benefits, however, will depend on reliable collection systems, effective enforcement and sustained public participation.
Gbadegesin urged residents to patronise approved waste collection services, report service gaps and avoid indiscriminate dumping, stressing that maintaining a cleaner and more environmentally sustainable Lagos was a shared responsibility among government, residents, businesses, markets, communities and PSP operators.
