Lagos waste-to-energy plant faces opposition from environmentalists

A non-governmental organisation, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives Nigeria, has kicked against the planned establishment of waste to the energy plant by the Lagos State Government.

The organisations are Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev), Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), Sustainable Environment Development Initiative, Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF), and Centre for Earth Work (CfEW) among others.

Leslie Adogame, SRADeV Executive Director, called on the Lagos State government not to adopt outdated technologies that are being phased out in the Global North.

He said that implementing a waste-to-energy incinerator in Lagos contradicts the city’s aspiration to be a leader in sustainability and innovation, especially with its growing interest and recognition in climate change advocacy.

“If Lagos adopts this flawed approach, it sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of Nigeria and Africa,” he said.

In May, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor, signed a deal with a Dutch firm, Harvest Waste Consortium, for the construction of a Waste-to-Energy plant on Epe landfill, which will utilize advanced technology to generate clean energy from municipal solid waste, commercial and industrial waste.

With over 13 million inhabitants, Lagos produces around 13,000 tons of waste daily, creating a pressing need for sustainable waste management solutions. The government argues that the plant will not only reduce landfill waste but also generate much-needed electricity for the city.

The proposed facility, intended to convert the city’s waste into electricity, has sparked heated debate among policymakers, and activists. The waste-to-energy plant, set to be constructed in the densely populated area of Epe landfill, is part of the state’s strategy to address Lagos’ mounting waste management crisis.

Weyinmi Okotie, a representative of GAIA, while explaining the process of an incinerator, said that it merely transforms the waste into other forms of waste, such as toxic ash and air and water pollution, which are harder to contain and usually more toxic than the original form of the waste.

“They come under many names as mass burn incinerators, thermal treatment facilities, waste-to-energy plants, and involve processes such as combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, or plasma arc.

“The term is also a misnomer, waste is a highly inefficient fuel, and these facilities are barely able to generate even a small amount of electricity,” Okotie said.

Meanwhile, Benson Dotun Fasanya from CfEW lamented that Waste-to-Energy Incineration is a threat to sustainable development decrying that it emits toxic pollutants, is expensive and inefficient, contributes to climate change, and undermines sustainable zero-waste practices.