By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Mosur Olowoopejo
Lagos State Government, through the state’s Waste Management Authorities, LAWMA, yesterday, finally launched its new waste recycling management initiative when it unveiled two communal wastes recycling banks as part of measures to efficiently deal with the issue of over 9,000 tonnes of waste generated daily across the metropolis.

The scheme will see communities in the state partnering the agency in waste sorting in furtherance of the Waste to Wealth programme already ongoing in Lagos.

Under the new scheme, the agency is to provide 1,000 locally manufactured waste banks to be strategically located in neighbourhoods across the state where residents will submit their already sorted household wastes.

The sorted wastes are categorised into used clothes, electronic wastes, glasses, plastic materials, cans among others.

The waste banks with different compartments for sorting household wastes will be supervised by trained waste resource managers (some of them former scavengers incorporated into waste recycle scheme).

They will be expected to offer expert advice to residents and assist in further separating the wastes before onward transfer to Transfer Loading Stations.

The state Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Muiz Banire while speaking at the unveiling of one of the two banks in Alaka and Eric Moore communities, Surulere, Lagos, said the method was part of the overall plan of the state to reduce the effect of climate change and global warming in the state.

Banire, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment Mrs. Titi Anibaba also explained that the new method was in line with best practices around the world to reduce Green House Emission in the state and increase the life span of the residents.

On his part the Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya, said the idea was to bring community in partnership with government towards timely and effective management of waste in the metropolis.

Oresanya who disclosed that 1,000 of such waste recycling banks will be located in different areas including markets within the metropolis, said that the agency would exchange all forms of waste brought in by the people for money according to the kilograms weighed.

He said: “Waste management has gone away from just being government’s responsibility. Communities and the general populace must realise the need to be actively involved in achieving a cleaner and healthier environment.

“The introduction of the waste bank therefore marks a new dawn in waste management in Lagos and heralds the series of events on refuse recovery programme of Lagos State in the years ahead,”

The waste to wealth programme, it will be recalled was launched in August 1999 by the former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu, with the core objective of harnessing a new line of economic activities and wooing interested investors through the provision of enabling environment for management of resources, protection of the environment through re_use and re_distribution of discarded materials.