By Olasunkanmi Akoni

The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has evacuated over 18,660 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste across its disposal facilities in one week, following operational improvements at the Olusosun Disposal Facility.

The development came after the rehabilitation of the facility’s access road and the opening of additional waste disposal platforms, which have enhanced truck movement and increased evacuation capacity.

LAWMA Managing Director, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this during an exclusive interview with Vanguard at the agency’s headquarters in Ijora-Olopa, Lagos.

Gbadegesin said the authority recorded 1,866 truck trips to its disposal sites between July 28 and August 3, 2026, describing the feat as evidence that strategic infrastructure investment was yielding positive results.

He said the biggest improvement was recorded at the Olusosun Disposal Facility, which handled 1,012 truck trips within the period.

According to him, the figure represented a 76 per cent increase from the 574 trips recorded in the previous seven days, an additional 438 trips.

“The rehabilitation of the Olusosun access road and the creation of additional waste disposal platforms have significantly improved access to the facility, reduced truck waiting time, enhanced turnaround and strengthened the authority’s waste evacuation capacity across Lagos,” he said.

The LAWMA boss noted that the intervention had addressed operational bottlenecks that previously affected waste evacuation, particularly during the rainy season.

He added that the agency recorded its highest single-day performance on August 1, when 349 truck trips were processed across all facilities, translating to about 3,490 metric tonnes of waste.

Gbadegesin said other disposal facilities, including Ewu-Elepe, Badagry and Oke-Osho, as well as the Waste-to-Wealth Material Recovery Facility at Igando, continued to complement Olusosun in ensuring efficient waste evacuation across the state.

“The steady improvement in our operational figures confirms that investment in critical infrastructure produces measurable results. We are witnessing faster truck turnaround, improved access to disposal facilities and increased waste evacuation capacity, all of which are translating into better service delivery for Lagos residents,” he said.

He assured that LAWMA would sustain the progress through the construction of modern Transfer Loading Stations (TLS), expansion of waste recovery infrastructure, development of waste-to-energy projects and the planned acquisition of additional compactor trucks.

Gbadegesin reiterated the agency’s commitment to supporting the Lagos State Government’s vision of transitioning from a landfill-dependent waste management system to an integrated and sustainable model driven by recycling, resource recovery, circular economy principles and modern waste processing infrastructure.