Is this Africa’s largest waste management challenge?

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A partnership between a local waste agency, a UN body and a producer responsibility organisation is set to establish 34 plastic waste management hubs across Lagos in Nigeria. Funded by the Government of Japan, the initiative aims to promote sustainable plastic waste management, reduce pollution and enhance recycling in the country’s largest city.

• Lagos churns out 13,000 tonnes of waste daily—yet nearly half goes uncollected. The sheer scale and dysfunction position the city as ground zero for testing whether African megacities can truly manage their waste.

• While other African cities face similar challenges, Lagos stands out for its size, density and plastic consumption. The city’s rapid growth and overstretched informal sector make its waste crisis uniquely complex.

More details

• The partnership brings together the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA). Launched under UNIDO’s Promoting Sustainable Plastic Value Chains through Circular Economy Practices project, the initiative aims to tackle plastic pollution at its source.

• Running through September 2026—with LAWMA and FBRA expected to continue their collaboration beyond—the initiative will establish four plastic waste collection facilities and 30 designated collection points across Lagos, to be managed by private sector operators

• LAWMA will offer the land and other essential infrastructure, while UNIDO will finance the project, as FBRA leads public awareness campaigns.The initiative will serve as a pilot project to be replicated across the country and also guide the development of a nationwide waste management strategy.

• With a population of over 20 million, projected to double by 2050, Lagos is Africa’s largest and fastest-growing city. This rapid urbanisation strains essential services, especially waste management. Its 13,000 tonnes of daily waste rivals that of entire countries, making it the focal point for piloting the UNIDO, FBRA and LAWMA.

• When compared to other African urban centres, the challenge in Lagos stands out both in scale and complexity. Kinshasa, Africa’s second largest city by population, faces a similarly dire situation, with limited waste infrastructure and large volumes of unmanaged household and market waste clogging waterways and streets. However, Lagos’ higher plastic consumption and density intensify the environmental and public health risks. 

• Cairo, Africa’s third-largest city, also struggles with municipal solid waste, generating an estimated 20,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily. However, it benefits from the zabbaleen—an informal recycling community that processes up to 80% of waste in some areas, greatly reducing landfill dependency.

• Nairobi, with around 5 million residents, generates about 2,400 tonnes of waste per day and suffers from landfill overflows and minimal recycling. Johannesburg, while more industrialised, produces just over 5,000 tonnes daily and has more structured recycling systems through public-private collaboration.

• Cities like Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Luanda and Abidjan all face mounting infrastructure stress. Still, none match Lagos in terms of waste volume, land scarcity, plastic intensity, or the degree of informal waste handling.

• What sets Lagos apart is the convergence of population pressure, limited land availability, high plastic usage and a largely unregulated waste economy. In this context, the UNIDO-backed project is not just another pilot—it’s a high-stakes test of whether integrated, scalable solutions can work in megacities of the Global South.

• Moreover, Lagos’ role as West Africa’s economic hub means that successful models here have implications beyond Nigeria. They could serve as templates for cities like Accra, Dakar and Kinshasa, where urbanisation trends mirror Lagos’.

• Ultimately, while waste mismanagement is a pan-African problem, the urgency and scale in Lagos position it as ground zero for the continent’s urban waste crisis. Tackling the problem here—through infrastructure, behavior change and policy alignment—could chart a course for how Africa’s cities adapt to their biggest environmental health challenge. 

Our take

• Lagos may be Africa’s toughest waste challenge, but also its blueprint.  If the city gets it right, it won’t just clean its streets. It could become a model for resilience and circular innovation across the continent, proving that even the largest challenges can spark scalable solutions.

• Lagos' challenge is also a reflection of the broader issues many African cities face. While some cities have made strides in formalising waste management, others, like Lagos, are still grappling with basic infrastructure and informal sector integration.

•  For the city, the plastic waste initiative is bold, but long-term success hinges on sustained investment, private sector buy-in and adapting strategies to reach the city’s vast and complex neighborhoods.