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“NOTHING IS TRULY A WASTE”
LAWMA Waste Buy-Back Centers & Aggregators Framework
Agency: Lagos Waste Management Authority
Jurisdiction: Lagos State (Can be adapted Nationwide and Globally)
🎯 CORE IDEA
Waste is misplaced value.
LAWMA’s role is to organize value recovery, not just disposal.
Policy Anchor: Nothing is truly a waste until it is wasted.
🏗️ 1. LAWMA-CERTIFIED BUY-BACK CENTERS (WBBCs)
What They Are
Designated points where citizens exchange sorted waste for cash, airtime, or utility credits.
Materials Accepted
- Plastics (PET bottles, sachet water nylon)
- Aluminum cans
- Paper & cardboard
- Scrap metal
- Glass
- Organic waste (for compost / bioenergy)
LAWMA Actions
- License & brand LAWMA-Certified WBBCs
- Publish weekly price bands (price transparency)
- Enforce digital weighing & payment logs
Impact:
➡️ Waste moves from gutters to wallets.
🚛 2. AGGREGATORS: THE MISSING LINK
Who They Are
Small–mid operators who collect from buy-back centers and supply:
- Recycling plants
- Manufacturers
- Exporters
LAWMA Role
- Register aggregators by zone
- Provide route permits + consolidation yards
- Link aggregators to off-takers (factories, exporters)
Impact:
➡️ Informal waste becomes a formal supply chain.
🧑🤝🧑 3. COMMUNITY MICRO-AGGREGATION MODEL
How It Works
- One aggregator per street / estate / market cluster
- Youth groups, scavengers, women co-ops onboarded
- Daily collection → weekly bulk transfer
LAWMA Support
- Starter kits (bags, gloves, tricycles)
- Training on sorting & safety
- Guaranteed offtake agreements
Impact:
➡️ Jobs + cleaner streets + steady raw materials.
💰 4. INCENTIVES THAT SCALE BEHAVIOR
Citizen Incentives
- Cash per kg
- School fee credits
- Electricity/transport credits
Business Incentives
- Market associations paid per ton recovered
- Construction sites refunded deposits for clean compliance
- Hotels/events rewarded for waste separation
Impact:
➡️ Cleanliness becomes profitable.
🏭 5. INTEGRATION WITH INDUSTRY
Off-Takers
- Plastic recyclers
- Beverage companies
- Paper mills
- Metal foundries
- Compost & biogas plants
LAWMA Role
- Sign long-term MoUs with manufacturers
- Guarantee minimum supply volumes
- Stabilize prices during market shocks
Impact:
➡️ Lagos waste feeds Lagos industry.
📊 6. DIGITAL TRACKING & TRANSPARENCY
LAWMA Waste Value Platform
- Track waste by type, weight, location
- Publish monthly:
- Tons recovered
- Jobs created
- Revenue generated
- QR-coded centers & aggregators
Impact:
➡️ Data-driven environmental governance.
🌍 7. ENVIRONMENTAL & ECONOMIC GAINS
| Outcome | Result |
|---|---|
| Drain blockage | Sharp reduction |
| Flooding | Lower risk |
| Youth employment | Thousands of micro-jobs |
| Recycling rate | Rapid increase |
| Waste-to-landfill | Major decline |
📣 8. PUBLIC MESSAGE (LAWMA CAMPAIGN LINE)
“Nothing is truly a waste.
It is value waiting to be found.”
Behavior Shift:
- Don’t dump it → sell it
- Don’t burn it → sort it
- Don’t ignore it → profit from it
🧭 BOTTOM LINE
- LAWMA becomes a value-chain coordinator, not just a cleanup agency
- Citizens become resource suppliers, not offenders
- Lagos becomes a circular economy city
Clean streets. New income. Stronger systems.
This idea has been burning in my head for over 15 years and i believe it’s about time.
Osita Rich
