‘Eco-Circulate Initiative To Encourage Efficient Waste Management For Financial Incentives’

Special adviser, Office of Climate Change and Circular Economy to the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Titilayo Oshodi, has said the Eco-Circulate initiative will help promote the exchange of waste for cash incentives and other rewards, improving the health, productivity, and overall quality of life of Lagosians.

She made this disclosure at the inaugural launch of the Eco-Circulate initiative in Badagry, the state’s Badagry area. The initiative, tagged “Impacting Lives For a Green and Wealthy Lagos,” was organized by the Office of Climate Change and Circular Economy in conjunction with the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Rural Development.

She said, “If each community is effectively managing their waste, then we have less pressure on the infrastructure of the state in regards to waste management. We also have less pressure in the area of enforcement.’’

“The money we are using and the investment in enforcement are huge. Security is quite huge, and If we can diffuse and reduce the cost, then we can also translate or throw such funding into other infrastructure and social amenities for the state. So it is a behavioural attitude that we have come here to change, to educate so that people can start to transition.”

In his address at the event, the state Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Rural Development, Hon. Robert Bibire, lauded the initiative by the Office of Climate Change and Circular Economy for considering Badagry to be a coastal and hospitable part of the state to kick-start the initiative.

He implored the indigenous people to explore the opportunities embedded in the programme to achieve a green and clean environment and better their lives.

In her remark, Lagos State Commissioner of Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Abisola Akinsanya, said, “ When looking at Eco-Connectivity, the environment and ecosystem is very important for food production, and at the Ministry of Agriculture we are not only concerned with the production of food but recently upgraded to look at food system. So all the activity that leads to food being placed on the table is looked at, which includes the value chains and individual responsibilities.’’