Lagos gets €120m support to convert waste to electricity

The Lagos State Government said it had received a €120m support fund from the Dutch government to support its waste-to-energy project in partnership with a Dutch firm, Harvest Waste Consortium.

The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this in a post on X.com on Wednesday.

Wahab explained that the project would convert part of Lagos’ waste into electricity at the decommissioned Epe landfill, processing 2,500 to 3,000 tons of waste daily out of the 13,000 to 14,000 tons generated in the state.

“The waste-to-energy project with the Dutch company, Harvest Waste, is backed by the Dutch government to the tune of about €120m and we have designated the decommissioned Epe landfill for this purpose.

“The Lagos State Government is actively decommissioning several landfills to make space for new waste management projects with foreign private companies, including the Jospong Group and Closing the Loop,” he wrote.

He stated that major dumpsites, such as Olusosun and Solous 1, 2, and 3, are in the advanced stages of decommissioning, with new landfills being provided to support these projects.

“Once these partnerships are fully operational, the government expects only 3% to 4% of the waste generated in Lagos to end up in the landfills, in line with the state’s goal of turning waste into valuable resources and promoting sustainability,” the commissioner added.

Last year, the Lagos Waste Management Authority revealed that it was partnering with the C40 and G-ORBIT Enterprise in efforts to convert organic waste into biogas which is used for electricity generation.

“LAWMA has partnered C40 and G-ORBIT Enterprise on a waste-to-energy feasibility study involving the conversion of organic waste, generated from markets, into biogas used for electricity,” the agency wrote on X in October 2023.