By Dickson Omobola Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Wednesday, launched a waste recycling programme at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, to reduce the volume of waste generated at the airport and cut carbon emissions. Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, said MMIA generated 1,446 tonnes of waste in 2023 and 1,383 tonnes in 2024, adding that virtually all the waste ended up in landfills without being recycled. Speaking at the launch of the programme in Lagos, Kuku, however, said the initiative would mark the beginning of a comprehensive circular economy programme aimed at ensuring that waste generated at the airport was sorted, recycled and converted into valuable resources instead of being dumped in landfills.
She said the comprehensive Circular Economy Programme would be implemented in three phases. She said: “In line with FAAN’s circular economy goals and our unwavering commitments towards Airport Carbon Emission Reduction, it is my distinct pleasure to unveil the first phase of our comprehensive Circular Economy Programme: Indoor Colour-Coded Waste Recycling Bins. “In 2023, this airport generated approximately 1,446 tonnes of waste.
By 2024, we recorded a modest yet encouraging reduction to about 1,383 tonnes. However, the sobering reality remains that, regardless of volume, every single tonne was consigned to landfill—completely unsorted, entirely unrecycled, and representing a monumental lost opportunity. From this moment, we are overhauling our approach with the strategic precision our operations demand.
This milestone inaugurates Phase One, embedding source sorting across our terminals. By initiating separation at the point of generation, we are transforming every passenger, partner, and staff member into an active guardian of our shared environmental destiny. This indoor system is the vital first step that will feed into phase two: the introduction of outdoor mammoth colour-coded waste recycling bins.
These large-scale receptacles will serve as the central collection points for the sorted waste from across the airport ecosystem. “In phase three, we will engage a certified third-party expert who will collect the sorted waste—specifically, plastics, glass, cans, and organic waste—and transport it to dedicated recycling facilities.
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