A scoping study on waste management and Circular Economy in the city of Lagos, Nigeria

November 01, 2019

In the week 28 Oct – 1 Nov a team of four experts from the Netherlands, led by Holland Circular Hotspot, carried out a scoping study on waste management and Circular Economy in the city of Lagos, Nigeria.

The team consists of Mr. Freek van Eijk of the Holland Circular Hotspot, Mr. Jeroen Nagel of the RWS State Agency  Mr. Reinhardt Smit of the company Closing the Loop and Mr. Bert Keesman of MetaSus Consultancy.

See the full report here.

All photos are copyright of Freek van Eijk, Holland Circular Hotspot and cannot be published without permission

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Challenging, urgents needs for an overall waste and CE system improvement

In close collaboration with the Netherlands Consulate-General in Lagos, the goal is to stimulate the circular economy in Nigeria starting with improved waste management. There is a special focus on organic waste, e-waste, plastics recycling and an additional “wildcard focus”, to be identified as part of the study.

Key organizations and individuals in waste/CE will be consulted and visits will be paid to important infrastructure such as waste transfer stations, recycling companies and landfills. Brainstorm session will be held with representatives of the Nigerian waste/CE sectored public and private authorities in order to assess the situation. Opportunities for increased bilateral cooperation and knowledge transfer between the Dutch and Nigerian private sectors will be explored. The aim is to develop a multi-annual Nigerian-Dutch Roadmap on Waste and Circular Economy and identify quick wins for improvement.

The team is assisted by the University of Lagos. The report of the scoping study will be available in January 2020.

One of the visits was to Olusosun landfill, one of the six landfills of Lagos. Lagos is a city of 20 million inhabitants in a low lying lagoon environment.

LAWMA, The Lagos Waste Management authorities were excellent hosts and explained the challenges and ambitions of waste management in Lagos.

The Olusosun landfill is a 43-acre dump in Lagos is the largest in Africa, and one of the largest in the world. The site receives up to 10,000 tons of waste each day.

How can it be described? Challenging, contaminated for sure with urgents needs for an overall waste and CE system improvement. But it also shows a human side; the resilience, pride and vibrance of the Nigerian people making a living at the site. A living condition however that needs to be improved drastically and rapidly.

Background

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/11/olushosun-dumpsite-return-of-the-eye-sore/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/11/re-emergence-of-olushosun-dumpsite/