The Chief Executive, Greennovative Chain Consulting, Ms Achenyo Idachaba, on Wednesday urged the Lagos State Government to take urgent steps to harness and utilise landfill gases for beneficial purposes.
Idachaba made the plea at a two-day workshop in Lagos, organised by Lagos Waste Management Authority? (LAWMA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), under its Global Methane Initiative (GMI).
The theme of the workshop is “Developing Successful Integrated Waste Management Systems in Africa''.
Idachaba also advised owners of landfill sites in the country to begin to strategise on how to develop and improve on their site operation practices and evolve new ways of deriving benefits from them.
She said one of the challenges faced during a recent survey conducted across the country was the absence of any systematic data collection system.
Idachaba said??? that the six landfill sites visited in the country were in Kano, Kaduna, Port-Harcourt, Zaria, Kaduna State, Akure and Jos.
According to her, there are 26 dumpsites, 12 publicly-owned sites and nine illegal ones nationwide.
“Dumpsites should be designed ahead to derive maximum use, putting in place all necessary pipes to capture and utilise the gases within.
''What we stand to gain is the understanding that we need to look at dumpsites in a different light, not just as places where waste is simply deposited but also as an asset,'' Idachaba said.
She said most of the sites visited had assets that could be tapped for beneficial use in terms of the energy opportunity, composting, aquaculture and hydronics, lying fallow in several parts of the country.
The Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr Ola Oresanya, explained that the ultimate objective of the feasibility study was to enable the Lagos State Government to be able to harness and utilise alternative options available in waste management.
Oresanya added that it would help to reduce reliance on landfill disposal and also maximise the emission of Greenhouse Gases, while managing waste in an environmentally-sound, responsible and financially sustainable manner.
More than? 80 participants are attending the workshop.