Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ABUJA823
2009-05-11 09:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:  

NIGERIA: USG PARTICIPATES IN INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE

Tags:  SENV ENRG ECON EAID TRGY KRVC TPHY NI 
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VZCZCXRO0755
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #0823/01 1310911
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110911Z MAY 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5979
INFO RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 1289
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0277
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000823 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR DUNDAS MCCULLOUGH
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO EPA GANGULI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON EAID TRGY KRVC TPHY NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: USG PARTICIPATES IN INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

REF: 08 ABUJA 2064

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000823

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR DUNDAS MCCULLOUGH
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO EPA GANGULI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON EAID TRGY KRVC TPHY NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: USG PARTICIPATES IN INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

REF: 08 ABUJA 2064


1. (SBU) Summary: At an international workshop and conference on
waste management from April 21-22 in Abuja, stakeholders discussed
strategies for improving waste management in Nigeria. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) helped design the workshop and
provided four trainers. Delegates from the International Solid
Waste Association (ISWA),South Africa and Ghana also attended and
shared their experiences. Attendees of the conference called on the
Government of Nigerian (GON) to give increased focus to waste
management and create an enabling environment for enhanced
public-private partnership to better manage waste in the country.
The EPA's assistance and active participation in the events
demonstrated U.S. commitment to help Nigeria address its growing
problem of waste management. The Mission will encourage appropriate
GON agencies and NGOs to build on the positive momentum of the
workshop and conference and take incremental steps to address the
problem. End Summary.


2. (U) The Wastes Management Society of Nigeria (WAMASON),in
conjunction with the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)
and assistance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
organized Nigeria's first international workshop and conference on
waste management (April 21-22) under the theme: "Closing Dumpsites
and Opening Landfills." EPA's Methane-to-Markets (M2M) Partnership
Program helped design the workshop agenda and funded the
international travel of four trainers, including that of Swarupa
Ganguli, M2M's Outreach Program Manger. Delegates from ISWA, South
Africa and Ghana also attended and shared their experiences.

Municipal Waste a Growing Problem
--------------


3. (U) According to information provided by WAMASON, Nigeria
generates annually over 60 million tons of solid waste, with a per
capita rate of 0.44-0.60 tons per year. WAMASON reported that
currently 40% of Nigeria's estimated 150 million people live in
urban centers -- a figure it believes is increasing by six percent

every year due to rural to urban migration. According to WAMASON,
the country's current waste management capacity can only handle less
than 10% of the waste generated, leaving huge amounts of waste
uncollected or dumped in the open and posing serious health, safety,
and environmental risks.


4. (U) Reuben Ossai, President of WAMASON and CEO of The Initiates
Ltd, pointed out that waste management in Nigeria was still seen as
a household problem; hence the lack of adequate focus at the
community level and at all stages of government. He added that
waste management should be considered an "environmental challenge,"
that demands a "chain of control from generator to manager." Unlike
other "perfect market" goods and services, waste management requires
extraordinary government attention and involvement, which he said is
sorely lacking at the moment.


5. (U) Several other speakers lamented that Nigeria's major urban
centers, home to tens of millions of people, lack an integrated
waste management system to collect, process, and dispose of waste
according to internationally accepted standards. However, they
praised recent improved waste collection and cleanup efforts in
Lagos as highly encouraging and a model for other cities to follow.
As an example of the severity of the problem, WAMASON pointed out
that in Nigeria there exists no single sanitary landfill that meets
international standards. (Note: The CEO of the Lagos Waste
Management Authority contested this assertion by saying that
Lagos-owned Olushosun landfill meets such a standard. End Note). A
U.S. EPA consultant responded that sanitary landfills meeting
international standards should not be the focus, as building such
landfills was expensive and time consuming. Instead, he suggested
using local products such as clay to build landfills, which have
comparable effect in decomposing waste and preventing pollution from
seepage.

A New Approach to Waste Management
--------------


6. (U) The president of WAMASON highlighted the need for a drastic
shift from current practice of "no control" to "controlled" waste
management through the introduction of appropriate policy and legal
framework as well as the creation of an enabling environment for
public-private partnership. Such an approach will lead to the
efficient collection, disposal, and management of waste, cleaner and
healthier living, and help create jobs, said the WAMASON President.
He added that his organization is ready to work with the government
and community-based organizations to craft and implement lasting
solutions to the problem.

ABUJA 00000823 002 OF 002



Converting Dumpsites to Landfills
--------------


7. (U) Most speakers agreed that, apart from improved collection of
waste, Nigeria needs waste processing centers and landfills to
better manage its growing waste. A representative of a local NGO
suggested that states should require existing urban centers to
convert dumpsites into landfills while making the establishment of
landfills a core requirement for the incorporation of new cities and
towns. Experts from ISWA stressed that closing existing dumpsites
and opening new sanitary landfills would require a lot of money and
time. Instead, they advised taking incremental steps in closing
existing dumpsites and opening new sanitary landfills using local
materials such as clay. WAMASON suggested facilitating
public-private partnership and improving the investment climate to
encourage local and international investment in converting dumpsites
to sanitary landfills and building new ones.

Using Landfill Gas for Power Generation
--------------


8. (U) The EPA's Ganguli highlighted the objectives and benefits of
the U.S. Methane-to- Market (M2M) program that seeks to recover and
use methane from closed dumpsites and landfills for small scale
power generation, which is ideal for use in areas surrounding such
sites. This approach also improves local air quality and public
health. Ganguli outlined the scientific, technical, and logistical
steps involved in establishing successful methane-to-market programs
and reviewed USG efforts to date in helping Nigeria in this area.
(Note: In 2006-07, the EPA funded the inventory of several
dumpsites in Nigeria to evaluate potential for methane gas recovery
and energy generation purposes: Mpape, Gosa, Ajata, and Kubawa in
Abuja and Olushosun and Abul Egba in Lagos. Based on these initial
assessments, Mpapa is seen as a possible candidate for methane
production. End Note).


9. Comment: (SBU) Nigeria's large population, rapid urbanization,
and lack of adequate waste processing infrastructure coupled with
the general perception of waste as a household problem pose
significant challenges to effective waste management. Overcoming
these challenges will, among other things, require an integrated
approach to waste management that involves public-private
partnership and community involvement. The workshop, which brought
together local and international experts, business, state and
federal representatives and community-based NGOs, enabled honest
appraisal of the problem and exchange of ideas on possible
solutions. The Mission will encourage appropriate GON agencies and
WAMASON to build on this positive momentum and take incremental
steps to improve waste management in Nigeria.


10. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos.

SANDERS