Wwale Jagun
The Lagos State Government on Friday took another big step toward managing the vast deposit of electronic waste in the state with the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) with a company from the Netherlands for the establishment of a Smelter Plant in Lagos.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at Alausa, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, who signed on behalf of the State Government, said it is about the economy of Lagos and improving it.
He added that when the smelter plant comes onstream, it would create new jobs and also create a new economy through the conversion of e-waste into valuable products.
Wahab stated that the presence of the Consul-General of the Netherlands affirms a vote of confidence in the company “Close the Loop BV” about its capabilities, describing electronic waste as a major waste that people usually don’t talk about but with the latest step taken by Lagos, it is far ahead of some states and countries in the sub-region in terms of taking care of electronic waste and converting them to wealth.
Revealing that Lagos generates about 13000 Tons of waste daily, Wahab explained that many people do not have the proper awareness on how to dispose of either their electronic products or the waste from e-products so the risk of pollution becomes more manifest, stressing that the improper management of e-waste can affect the environment negatively.
According to him, residents must take ownership of the infrastructure in their environment by not disposing of waste into the drainage system. “You are the ones paying the tax, so the government provides infrastructure from the taxes you pay. As a good citizen you must always say something when the need arises”, he stated.
The Special Adviser on Environment, Mr. Rotimi Akodu said the Lagos team is ready to collaborate and see that things are sorted the way it should be, adding that “Close the Loop BV” officials seemed poised for the job at hand.
“We have a lot of waste in place that we don’t know what to do with them, but now is the time. We just worked on the conversion of waste to wealth. We just signed the conversion of waste to energy and now we are taking care of our electronic waste. It is something we are ready to welcome in Lagos”, he said.
Netherlands Consul-General in Nigeria, Mr. Michel Deleen noted that it has been observed that the Lagos Government is very proactive in all its endeavours, citing the example of the heavy rainfall experienced a few days ago and the flash flood that accompanied it disappeared after a few hours of the rains stopping.
“The truth is most developed countries with infrastructure in place still experience flash floods when it rains incessantly”, he said.
He emphasised that the Netherlands Government is set to collaborate with Lagos to turn waste into value and extract valuable wastes as well, adding that this is the beginning of that stage and signing of the LOI is very important because it is a global issue.
Also speaking, the President Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, Ingrid Thijssen expressed delight at the partnership, saying it will benefit both parties tremendously.
