LAWMA
The Lagos Waste Management Authority is seeking greater involvement from youth organisations in its campaign to change how residents handle waste, with two clubs pledging to support initiatives promoting recycling and environmental responsibility.
The commitment came during a visit by representatives of the Rotaract Club of Ikoyi and Achiever Leo Club to LAWMA’s headquarters in Ijora-Olopa recently.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, used the meeting to outline the authority’s approach to reducing waste sent to landfills while expanding opportunities to recover materials and derive economic value from discarded items.
Gbadegesin said the authority was strengthening collection, recycling and resource recovery as part of a wider shift towards more sustainable waste management.
He pointed to the planned Material Recovery Facilities in locations including Badagry and Agbowa as part of that effort, saying the facilities would improve the sorting and recovery of recyclable materials while supporting economic activity around waste processing.
The LAWMA chief also drew attention to the authority’s Academy, which he described as an avenue for introducing children and young people to practical approaches to waste management and sustainable living.
He displayed products created by interns at the academy from discarded materials, arguing that the work demonstrated how recycling could simultaneously promote environmental awareness and develop entrepreneurial skills among young people.
Gbadegesin said government could not achieve sustainable waste management on its own, stressing the importance of participation by residents, businesses, civil society and youth organisations.
The clubs’ representatives, led by the President of Achiever Leo Club, Agboola Yussuf, and Vice-President of Rotaract Club, Ikoyi, Olayori Fawaz, said the visit allowed them to better understand LAWMA’s operations and environmental programmes.
They commended the authority’s recycling and environmental initiatives and pledged to work with it on programmes aimed at increasing public awareness and encouraging responsible waste disposal.
The engagement puts youth participation alongside infrastructure and recycling as an important component of Lagos’ attempt to build a waste management system in which discarded materials are increasingly treated as resources rather than simply refuse.
