LAWMA Aims To Curb Textile Waste
By Daniel Chinenye
Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, the CEO of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) gave an inkling on plans to prohibit textile waste in all landfills across Lagos State, emphasizing that it can be put to a better use after recycling to gain income.
This announcement was made during Lagos Fashion Week event held at Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island. The event was organised by Style House Files, in cooperation with the Circular Business Platform and the Office of the Lagos State Special Adviser on Climate Change and Circular Economy.
He said “Having discovered the significant environmental impact of textile waste dumped at our landfills, which comprises about 8 percent of the waste deposited, along with its contribution to resource depletion, and the potential for creating economic and social benefits through sustainable solutions like recycling, upcycling, and responsible consumption, we have decided to ban textile waste at all our landfills. This will take effect in three months.”
He further stated that “we are already in partnership with Tejuosho Market in Yaba, where we will collect the waste and transfer it to companies involved in textile recycling. At LAWMA, we believe in practicing what we preach, and we’ve demonstrated this through the students who have come to learn waste management at the LAWMA Academy. Before their graduation, they learned upcycling with textile waste, producing beautiful items from the waste. Our goal is to continue advocating for sustainability practices, and we hope to engage in projects that promote circularity.”
In addition, he also stressed that LAWMA has been able to achieve its mandate as a result of its various partnerships with other cleaning agencies, their most successful partnership is with the hundreds of PSP operators who help the LAWMA collect waste from households and companies.
Gbadegesin also added that several Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partnerships, instituted by both government and privately owned enterprises, have resulted in the donation of Personal Protective Equipment and uniforms for sweepers.
The LAWMA boss added, “here in LAWMA, we have a department in charge of partnerships, and they have been doing fantastic work. We have partnered with some banks to adopt streets, where they donate uniforms for the sweepers maintaining those routes. The Authority recently partnered with a waste-to-energy firm, and we are establishing a waste-to-energy plant in Epe. We are also in partnership with Zoomlion, a Ghanaian company, which will help us decommission the Olusosun dumpsite. We know there is great potential in partnerships that can foster job creation and a brighter future.”
He also took out time to praise the road sweepers, he recognized them as the heroes of the state.
