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 
 
¶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