Dr. Leslie Adogame is the Executive Director, Sustainable Research and Action for Environment Developmental (SRADeV). He spoke with DAYO AYEYEMI, at a workshop in Lagos on sustainable waste management by adopting zero waste initiative.
WE are here for this workshop and we can see that you’ve brought a lot of experts to discuss and talk to us. What is the reason behind this motive?
Environmentally speaking, waste is an inevitable outcome of human existence. Human beings will continue to produce waste until they are in a state of being disposed as waste, and because of that, we just can’t but find a sustainable way of managing waste.
Today, environmentally speaking, waste management is a huge challenge. Waste is all centered from solid, liquid and gaseous waste. if waste is not managed sustainably then the impact are enormous, which is what we are already facing today, and either the impact on the physical ecosystem or the impact on public health, we have been so challenged. Lagos is the centre of excellence, we think that waste management in a mega city like this should be a priority. We know that the Lagos State Government is confronting it to some levels of satisfaction. The challenge we have is that of the people, following the process, the waste producer. The people who produce waste should take responsibility for their waste. There is no way we can continue with this approach of just releasing waste into the environment and expect the Lagos Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) to continue to manage the sustainability. It doesn’t happen anywhere. So we are organising this event, for us to have a paradigm shift. We are talking with the government. We want to collaborate with the Lagos State Government before we scale up to the federal level that every developed country has embraced zero waste management approach.
What do you mean by zero waste management?
Zero waste management control or concept means that from household level, from industry level, individual production level, you ask yourself that, look you lead to reduce waste production, separate and sort. What are the recycling products? What are the organic products? Who needs my waste? Who doesn’t need my waste?
Waste is a resource of exchange. We should know that reducing waste at source as it is done in other parts of the world is what Lagos State needs to embrace. And untill we entrench this, there no way, no equipment, no infrastructure LAWMA can purchase or replace that can effectively manage waste in Lagos.
How do you demonstrate this?
We have estates, we want to do a pilot project on what zero waste actually means. We want to do a pilot project on how Lagos State should reduce its waste at source; and how estates and school children should begin to be taught zero waste, so that what eventually should be getting to the dump site, that are already over blotted, becomes minimal waste. What is a waste to me should be a resource to another. We want to organise Lagos in a way that we have a waste exchange company. What I don’t need is useful to another company and we can see it happening in the plastic sector already, where all the pets are recycled. You can hardly see pets on the streets.
But it goes beyond that, why don’t we even reduce the pets that are overflowing drains on the streets from domestic homes. That is the concept. Waste management has a pyramid but we are not following the pyramid right now and that’s why we have been challenged by this programme. So this programme is to formally launch what we call ‘a zero litter’. That’s why you have the zero waste management; that’s why you have LAWMA here; that’s why you have Lagos State Ministry of Environment: we have all the government institutions up to the Ministry of Agriculture that can turn the waste to organic products. So this is the reason we are here. A lot had been happening outdoor but this is just like an official event to speak to those who are not able to come here -the general public, that very soon we will spread the campaign to the Local Government Chairmen and different institutions.
Why starting in Lagos State?
Like I said earlier, Lagos Is known as the centre of excellence, the most populous city in Africa. If we get it right with Lagos, it will be easier to get it right with other cities in Nigeria. Of course, every other major cities in the world is overwhelmed with the level of waste that is being generated. Most people believe that Lagos needs more efforts. It is trying, it is doing very well but it needs more hands.
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