The Problem:
Lagos State faces a challenge that is also an economic opportunity: how to manage the large volumes of waste generated daily while creating meaningful employment and business opportunities for its growing youth population.
Waste management should not end with collecting refuse and transporting it to disposal sites. Properly separated and recovered waste can serve as a resource for manufacturing, agriculture, recycling and, where technically and economically viable, energy production.
Japan offers useful lessons in this regard. Its emphasis on reducing, reusing and recycling materials demonstrates how waste management can be connected to resource efficiency and economic development. However, Lagos cannot simply copy Japan’s model. It must adapt relevant practices to its own infrastructure, financial capacity, waste composition and existing institutions.
My Policy Proposal:
I propose that the Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), establish a Lagos Circular Economy and Youth Enterprise Pilot Programme.
Rather than creating another waste-management agency or launching an expensive statewide project immediately, the programme would build on existing waste collection and recycling structures, test a practical model in two selected local government areas, and expand it if the results justify doing so.
The programme would have four main components.
1. Separate Waste at Source and Connect It to Markets:
The pilot would work with selected markets, food businesses, schools, residential communities and other willing waste generators to separate recyclable materials and suitable organic waste from general refuse.
LAWMA would coordinate with existing licensed waste operators, registered recyclers and participating businesses to ensure that separated materials are collected and delivered to appropriate destinations.
Before collection begins, participating recyclers and other buyers would be identified to establish reliable arrangements for purchasing or receiving recovered materials. This would help prevent collected recyclables from accumulating without a market.
Recyclable plastics, paper, cardboard and metals could be directed to suitable recycling businesses. Suitable organic waste could be processed into compost or considered for biogas production where facilities, technical assessments and viable operating arrangements are available.
The objective is to move from a system that largely treats waste as something to dispose of, towards one that recovers value from materials that would otherwise be discarded.
2. Create Practical Employment and Support Youth-Owned Enterprises:
The programme would create opportunities for young people both as workers and as entrepreneurs.
Young people could receive practical training in waste sorting, collection logistics, recycling operations, material recovery, compost production, business management and environmental safety.
For young people seeking employment, the programme would connect training to actual vacancies and paid work with participating waste operators, recycling companies and other relevant businesses. Training should not be presented as a job guarantee; rather employable outcomes should be tracked.
For aspiring and existing youth entrepreneurs, the government would work with development partners, financial institutions and private-sector recyclers to provide competitively awarded equipment support, small business grants or suitable financing. Support could cover practical needs such as collection containers, weighing scales, protective equipment, storage facilities and basic processing tools.
Crucially, financial support would be tied to viable business plans, transparent selection criteria and evidence of progress. Applicants would also need a credible plan for obtaining recyclable materials and selling their recovered products. Where appropriate, participating enterprises would be connected to established recyclers and potential buyers.
This would help young people develop businesses that can generate revenue beyond the duration of a government programme.
3. Develop Waste-to-Wealth and Waste-to-Energy Opportunities:
The programme would assess how different waste streams can create economic value rather than assuming that every type of waste should be processed in the same way.
Reusable items should be reused where practical. Recyclable materials should be directed towards appropriate recycling markets. Suitable organic waste could be processed into compost for agricultural and landscaping uses, while biogas production could be explored where technical and financial assessments demonstrate that it is viable.
The government should first assess existing facilities and partnerships before committing public funds to new infrastructure.
Large-scale waste-to-energy investments should only be considered after feasibility studies establish the availability of suitable feedstock, operating costs, environmental safeguards, technology requirements and reliable demand for the energy produced.
This phased approach would allow Lagos to explore the economic potential of waste without committing scarce public resources to expensive projects before their viability has been demonstrated.
4. Introduce Transparent Monitoring and Accountability:
The pilot should have clear performance indicators, a published implementation plan and regular public progress reports.
LAWMA and participating local governments would monitor the quantity of waste collected separately, the volume of materials actually recovered and sold, the number of young people employed, the number of youth-led enterprises supported, and the survival and performance of participating businesses.
The programme should distinguish between waste collected and waste successfully recovered. Collection alone does not prove that materials have been recycled or converted into useful products.
Information on public expenditure, grant recipients, selection criteria and programme outcomes should be published in an accessible format, subject to appropriate privacy and commercial protections.
The Lagos State House of Assembly could support the initiative through legislative oversight, review of existing policies, and consideration of appropriate budgetary provisions. This would help ensure that implementation is monitored rather than left as a policy announcement without measurable results.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Phase One; Assessment and Preparation(Months 1–3):
Conduct a baseline assessment in two selected local government areas to identify priority waste streams, existing collection and recycling arrangements, available processing capacity, potential buyers and youth employment opportunities. Consult residents, waste operators, recyclers, youth groups and relevant government agencies.
Phase Two; Pilot Implementation(Months 4–9):
Launch source-separation activities in selected communities and markets. Recruit and train young participants, establish agreements with recycling businesses, and provide equipment or financial support to qualified youth-led enterprises through a transparent process.
Phase Three; Evaluation and Improvement(Months 10–12):
Publish the results, assess the programme’s costs and benefits, examine whether supported businesses are generating revenue, and identify implementation gaps. Expansion should depend on independently verifiable results and the availability of sustainable funding.
MEASURING SUCCESS
The pilot should establish a baseline before setting final waste-recovery targets. Its performance would be assessed using indicators such as:
- The quantity of recyclable and organic waste successfully recovered and delivered to verified destinations.
- The number of young people who obtain paid employment through participating organisations.
- The number of youth-led enterprises supported and the proportion still operating after the pilot.
- The value of recovered materials sold and the revenue generated by participating enterprises.
- The cost per unit of waste recovered and the amount of public funding required to sustain the programme.
- The proportion of supported businesses that establish repeat customers and reliable supply arrangements.
- Compliance with environmental, occupational safety and waste-handling requirements.
The programme should publish periodic results so that residents can assess what public resources have achieved.
FUNDING AND SUSTAINABILITY
Rather than relying entirely on government funding, the pilot should combine an agreed public-sector allocation with private-sector participation and, where available, support from development partners.
Public funding would support coordination, baseline research, monitoring, training and carefully targeted enterprise support. Private-sector partners would contribute through their existing collection and processing operations, purchases of recovered materials, technical expertise and other mutually agreed arrangements.
Over time, participating enterprises should be able to sustain an increasing share of their operations through sales and service contracts rather than depending indefinitely on grants.
WHY THIS POLICY MATTERS
Lagos has already expressed its intention to move towards a circular economy, and LAWMA has existing recycling arrangements and partnerships. The opportunity, therefore, is not simply to announce another environmental initiative. It is to strengthen the connection between waste recovery, viable businesses and measurable youth employment.
This proposal adapts a relevant lesson from Japan: materials should be viewed not only as waste to be discarded, but also as resources whose value can be recovered. The approach must, however, be tailored to Lagos’s local conditions and supported by practical infrastructure, functioning markets, responsible investment and effective oversight.
My position is that a cleaner Lagos and a more economically empowered youth population should not be treated as separate policy objectives. With a carefully designed pilot, transparent monitoring and genuine partnerships between government and the private sector, waste recovery can become a practical pathway towards both.
The goal is not to promise that waste will suddenly solve Lagos’s unemployment or environmental challenges. It is to demonstrate, measure and expand a workable system that makes responsible waste management economically worthwhile.
1 comment
This is a masterpiece