Municipal Solid Waste Management in Lagos Metropolis

Urbanisation and industrialisation are accelerating simultaneously in Lagos State, resulting in a concentration of people leading to pollution from uncontrolled and indiscriminate dumping of solid waste that disrupts the beauty of the city. Available resources are not maximally utilised due to lack of adequate information on the quality and the pattern of wastes generated. Waste characteristics are essential for waste disposal, facility planning and waste management policy formulation. This work examined the daily household/commercial waste generation rate, the per capita per day and characterized its composition and concluded that, over 80% of the waste components in Lagos Metropolis are biodegradable, which can be converted to organic manure and also for the generation of biogas. Waste generation is higher than collection, which may result into waste accumulation over time, thereby degrading the environment. The analysis should be especially useful to governments, stakeholders and researchers in environmental management for improved and efficient waste management strategy, programme and implementation.