The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare has received in audience, Prof. Nazdaneh Yarahmadi, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and the VINNOVA, the Swedish government agency that administers state funding for the research and development’s project leader, representing the team from Sweden.
The meeting, which had the Director, Legal and Advisory Services, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mrs Yinka Adeyemi in attendance, was aimed at discussing the importance of waste management and waste to energy development in the State.
Dr. Adejare opened the meeting by expressing the importance of waste management to Lagos State. He specifically mentioned and highlighted his gratitude to the Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Scandinavian Chapter, Ayoola Lawal, for organizing the meeting.
According to Professor Kim Bolton, Researcher from University of Borås, this project is firmly based on, and extends, the present UDI project, which is based on establishing facts and tools to measure and predict the technical status of pipelines for water, sewage and energy distribution.
“We will investigate the demand for these solutions in Nigeria. At the same time we will extend these activities to waste management, which we know is a challenge in Nigeria and where we have begun cooperation. In order to give the pre-study a concrete and manageable activity, we will focus on the piping systems used in water and sewage systems, as well as waste management via recovery to energy. In addition, the project will investigate methods and partners for implementation of the innovations that are identified as most possible to succeed.
“SP, 4IT, FOV Fabrics AB and University of Borås, together with support from Sweden Water Research, WIN, and the know-how accumulated in the Swedish water industry can deliver enormous value to countries like Nigeria, and at the same time provide a great economic potential return. The consortium has extensive experience in international projects as well as strong and relevant networks in Nigeria,” Bolton said.
At the meeting, Mrs Adeyemi introduced the VINNOVA project and presented LAWMA’s interest in the project while Prof. Yarahmadi and colleague explained the outcome of the project in some detail as well as the meetings that were held with Lagos State University and LAWMA. We also described our visit to the Olusosun landfill as well as the material sorting facility that is located near Ojo, an outskirt area of Lagos. We presented our admiration at the progress that has been made at the material sorting plant during the past five years, and expressed our interest to support further development of material sorting in Lagos.
Adejare recounted interesting and relevant details of the current and future development in waste handling in the state.
“There are plans to introduce new trucks for waste management and to develop new landfill sites. The material sorting plant outside Ojo may be closed since it is located too close to a local hospital,” the commissioner said.
The commissioner confirmed that the project is timely and that it can support the planned development in Lagos. He gave further assurance for the collaboration and co-creation of innovations between Sweden and Lagos.
