Seeking new ways to confront mounting plastic waste and its environmental toll, the Lagos State Government has launched a campaign encouraging residents to dispose of plastic waste responsibly — and get paid for doing so.
The initiative, part of the state’s growing “waste-to-wealth” program, offers cash incentives to residents who turn in recyclable materials. Officials say the goal is to reduce pollution across Africa’s most populous city while creating new economic opportunities.
“We’re turning trash into value,” said Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, general manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, during a sensitization walk held Friday to mark World Environment Day. The event was organized in partnership with the Cleaning Practitioners Association of Nigeria.
Dr. Fasawe described the program as part of a global movement toward sustainable waste management — one that seeks not only to reduce the volume of waste headed to landfills but also to encourage recycling and reuse. “Waste-to-wealth is a sustainable international initiative recognized worldwide,” she said, “with the objective of generating less waste, encouraging reusable materials, and promoting recycling and conversion of waste to new products — which translates into income generation and job opportunities for our people.”
Officials say the cash-for-trash model is also meant to tackle one of Lagos’s most persistent environmental problems: plastic clogging drainage systems and waterways. By paying slightly above market rates for recovered materials, Fasawe added, the government hopes to change public attitudes and discourage indiscriminate dumping.
“The cash-for-trash transfer will reduce the indiscriminate dumping of plastics in drains and water channels,” she said, “and prevent the pollution of food and drinking water.”
The effort is one of several measures Lagos has rolled out in recent years to address environmental degradation in a fast-growing megacity where poor waste disposal practices and flooding remain chronic challenges.
