Some state governments in the
North-East have stepped up efforts
toward converting waste to energy,
with a view to expand their sources
of revenue generation.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
survey on Thursday indicated that
while projects for some states were
still at planning level, others had
reached advanced stages.
One of such states is Gombe, which
the Ministry of Environment and
Forests Resources said it had
written a proposal on how to
generate power from waste.
Mr Adamu Pukuma, Permanent
Secretary of the ministry said the
proposal would be submitted to the
governor for his consideration and
approval by the executive council.
According to him, a Polish investor
had earlier indicated interest in
using waste to generate 15
megawatts of energy.
“The governor was happy about the
development but unfortunately,
since the man left, he has not
returned; we are still expecting him.
“Nevertheless, we are looking for
another alternative,’’ he said.
He said that there was a waste
recycling plant in the state,
established by the Federal
Government through the
Millennium Development Goal
(MDGs), but was not functional.
Pukuma said there was an agency,
known as Gombe State
Environmental Protection Agency
(GOSEPA) saddled with the
responsibility of cleaning the state
and evacuating waste to the point
of disposal.
He told NAN that government also
engaged the service of a private
firm, INEX Cleaners, to assist
GOSEPA in cleaning the streets and
other strategic areas.
On its part, Adamawa government
says it is collaborating with foreign
and local firms to establish a
modern high-tech centre for
converting waste to energy.
Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry of Environment, Mr
Barnabas Pate, said in Yola that
many stakeholders, including local
firms, had expressed their interests
to partner with the government in
the waste management business.
He said that when established, the
centre would not only help in
converting waste to energy, but
also waste to local fertiliser as well.
Pate expressed concern with the
activities of some illegal waste
collectors in the state, parading
themselves as waste managers.
He said that such collectors were
dumping waste outside designated
areas.
The official told NAN that
government had warned
organisations such as banks,
business centres and institutions of
higher learning, patronising such
collectors to desist.
He said that government had
registered 21 genuine Waste
Managers and established three
designated areas for refuse
dumping.
In Bauchi State, however, a Waste
Recycling Plant, established by the
state government in 2014 at the
cost N244 million, had stopped
working.
Officials at the State Ministry of
Environment and the
Environmental Protection Agency
(BASEPA) declined to comment on
the development.
NAN checks, however, indicated
that there was plan to harness the
potential of solid waste in the state
by either the government or the
private sector.
A pamphlet made available to NAN
at BASEPA showed that the agency
had established refuse collection
points within Bauchi metropolis,
just as the state government also
contracted a private firm,
Cosmopolitan Cleaners, to assist
BASEPA in evacuation of refuse.
Meanwhile, a Climatologist in
Dutse, Jigawa, Malam Muhammad
Saleh, advised the government to
consider the use of solid waste, as
an alternative energy to generate
electricity,
He said that solid waste produced
carbon dioxide and other gases that
could be utilised for human
benefits.
Saleh advised that against this
background, efforts should be
channelled at using solid waste to
generate energy. (NAN)