The Lagos State Government (LASG) has signed three separate Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with various reputable companies to advance waste conversion.
This is contained in a statement issued and signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Mr Kunle Adeshina, on Sunday in Lagos.
Adeshina added that the MoU was aimed at reducing the quantum of waste in the state.
“The state over the weekend demonstrated its irrevocable commitment to advanced waste conversion.
“This is the 11th Lagos International Climate Change Summit climaxed with breakout and panel sessions on thematic areas featuring experts,” he said.
He said the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, while addressing the investors, stated that the state government was determined to convert waste to wealth.
He added that the LASG was determined to move from linear waste management (pick and dump), to conversion of waste to wealth which was more sustainable.
He said the new MoUs represented a new vista in the quest of the state to reduce the quantum of waste that finally gets to the various landfill sites.
He said the proposition from one of the companies, HAK Waste Ltd., was to establish a circular beverage container bottle recycling and recovery.
“This is through a deposit refund system hinged on the Extended Producer’s Responsibility mechanism (EPRM),” he said.
He added that the new proposal was an investor’s confidence in the EPRM policy of the state on waste reduction.
He added that it would involve the establishment of a packaging circularity ecosystem.
He said that another of the MoUs would bring about a first-of-its-kind establishment of a world-class tyre collection and recycling of end-of-life tyres in the state.
“Haggai Logistics Ltd. proposes to build a first-of-its-kind tyre recycling plant.
“This will be responsible for processing end-of-life tyres via a fully automated Waste Tyre Recycling Factory and deployment of environmentally sound recycling technologies.
“The third of the MoU is from Mondo 4 Africa, proposing to convert non-recyclable plastic waste into sustainable fuel and other valuable resources through environmentally friendly technology,” he said.
He said the state was determined to continually sensitise the residents to cultivate the habits of waste sorting from the source and always bear in mind that waste was a resource and not a waste.
“We are trying to make people change the culture of seeing waste as waste but waste as a resource.
“We are also trying to shift their mindset from the practice that has been in use for decades,” he said.
He said the state was determined to address these key issues simultaneously for a proper financial intervention.
He emphasised that what the government was speaking to was proper financing and how to access it constantly as well as speaking to the vulnerabilities of Lagos being a coastal state.
Speaking further on the new MoUs, the Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said the new initiative was part of the organisation’s quest to improve the state’s environment.
Gbadegesin noted that the state government or LAWMA alone cannot be saddled with the responsibility of managing the quantum of daily generated solid waste in the state.
He added that the state needed the partnership of the private sector to turn waste into a resource and wealth.
In their response, the investors expressed their appreciation and willingness to work with the LASG to actualise the waste-to-wealth initiative of the state.
The event was witnessed by the Special Adviser on Environment, Mr Rotimi Akodu; the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Dr Omobolaji Gaji and the Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services, Mr Mahamood Adegbite, among others. (NAN)