The Nation Newspaper

Tag: garbage

  • An open source platform to sort garbage

    Around 9 a.m. every day, Rajendran and his team hop into their pickup truck to collect waste from companies in the IT hub Electronics City, in Bangalore, India.

    At each destination, Rajendran uses a smartphone to scan a QR code previously given to the company.

    The team then weigh each type of waste (wet, dry, rejects) on a digital scale and enter the weight information on a mobile application. “Even those who don’t know how to read can use it, as different streams of waste are colour-coded,” he says.

    The app, called “I Got Garbage” (IGG), was developed by the Indian IT giant Mindtree, and it helps Rajendran and his team at the Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) Solid Waste Management Centre generate invoices for the 103 companies they serve. It analyses the data in order to determine the weight of each sub- category of waste. With this information, companies can draw up plans for waste reduction in particular streams, such as wet or dry waste, plastic waste and construction debris.

    Mindtree launched IGG through Mindtree.org —the company’s corporate social responsibility initiative— in Bangalore in 2014, to empower rag pickers (informal waste collectors), increase their collection capacity and help them climb up the value chain using technology to better organize their work flow and payments.

    Prashant Mehra, Vice President of Social Inclusion for Mindtree, says that in mid 2015, his team started approaching various municipalities with the IGG platform. “While many were excited about it, no one wanted to start using it,” he notes.

    “The reason and season had not yet come together like it did in Bangalore, Karnataka, and Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.”

    In 2016, Extended Producer Responsibility was mandated and it was only in 2018 that the governments started getting serious about it. Since then, the app has been deployed in seven cities across India.

    Today, as many as 16 partners —mostly non-profits— work with IGG in these cities.

    It has helped transform the lives of nearly 10,000 rag pickers and scrap dealers previously working in the informal sector, with some now managing their own micro businesses.

    Over the years, these rag pickers and scrap dealers have been able to recycle 52 million kg of solid waste and compost roughly 127 million kg of organic waste thanks to the app, thus preventing 212 million kg of waste from ending up in landfills, according to Mindtree.org.

    Mehra says the company has now embarked on a new project that aims to help 50 cities recycle or reduce their use of plastics using IGG. For the project, christened Prithvi, Mindtree has partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages (HCCB), and local municipalities.

    It is via the Prithvi project that the company hopes to empower and mobilise around 40,000 more waste pickers. “The platform is available free of charge. We realised that if waste pickers can use it, other people who want to scale up the value chain can also use it and benefit from it,” Mehra explains.

    Over the years, the company has also been able to come up with a blueprint of what it takes to create a zero waste city. “Based on our experience, we know what it takes for a city to have a robust solid waste management system in place,” Mehra says. “How to promote source segregation and home composting, solid waste management centres that have to be set up, what the capital expense should be for the municipalities, and so

    on.”

    It takes a highly integrated approach, with factors such as technology, infrastructure, delivery models, community engagement and governance playing vital roles. The project implementation includes solid waste management master planning, programme management, municipalities building capacity, community engagement and creation of a replicable zero waste model at the level of a municipal ward.

    Mindtree has also been able to draw up a waste maturity model and is approaching municipalities across the country. These municipalities could adopt the model, put systems in place as per the blueprint and work towards becoming zero waste cities.

     

     

  • Lagos, garbage and its profiteers 

    When this writer and the likes of Professor Pat Utomi, Sahara desert explorer Newton Jibunoh, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1) and Lagbaja were named Lagos State Ambassadors for Environment in 2009, then Governor Tunde Fashola was trenchant in his expectation: deploy your individual talent and platform to help create awareness for the sustainability of the environment in a world ensnared by climate change.

    As we left the inauguration ceremony that day, I doubt if anyone of us harboured the illusion that what lay ahead was a glamour ride. I am sure most left with a sobering feeling that it was a crusade with an ambitious mission – seeking to alter behavior at the cultural realm.

    While then making allowance for some distractions – if not resistance – along the way, nothing could have prepared anyone for the recent abrupt reversal of progress thought already made with the resurgence of garbage on Lagos highways, beginning from the last Yuletide season. As giant flies and rodents feasted away, so have vultures been encircling the Lagos skyline ominously.

    The easy conjecture is to scapegoat the new waste manager, Visionscape, for this. In retrospect, it must be admitted that the meltdown would probably have been mitigated, if not totally avoided, had Visionscape phased its intervention in pilot schemes, learning and fine-tuning things along the way before scaling up.

    By the terms of the original transition arrangement, the new concessionaire was expected to concentrate on residential neighborhoods while the existing PSP operators were to manage commercial and industrial avenues. (The former accounts for 40 percent of the waste generated while the latter produces the rest.)

    But having said that, holding Visionscape solely responsible for the resurgent mountains of garbage along the highways will amount to a poor reading of the dark forces actually at play. Let it be recognized that the garbage heaps are only a manifestation of a vicious power-play going on.

    Entrenched interests are certainly up in arms against a bold attempt by the Akinwumni Ambode administration to fast-track reforms in a sector that otherwise impacts the daily existence of over 20 million residents.

    They are to be located between the PSP cartel, the nest of unscrupulous civil servants and maybe the rank of those who lost out in the bid process. (Some of the biggest names in international environmental management such as Veolia, Averda and Suez Environment had expressed interest through strategic partnerships with local partners in the tender process.)

    Of course, experience readily shows that beneficiaries of any pre-existing order are never willing to forfeit privileges or go down without a fight.

    Like sharks, the PSP operators chose to sink their fangs where it hurts most.

    Knowing the bulk of the fleet of compactors ordered by the new concessionaire were still in transit, they not only downed tools but also rushed to the court to file suits against the authorities and Visionscape. Without having a full complement of equipment needed to effectively cover Lagos at that point, it was only natural Visionscape would encounter acute operational difficulties.

    The lesson: the old structure that had served the city need not have been pulled down in one fell swoop overnight. At least, that would have afforded the powerful PSP cartel enough cool-off time.

    Authorities believe the barrage of attack is the handiwork of beneficiaries of the old order. Well, that should be expected. Only a fortnight ago, the state government had paraded a PSP operator allegedly caught willfully discharging garbage on the highway at night. Of course, the motive could only be to cast Visionscape in bad light.

    Anyone still in doubt as per the length such interests could go only needs to check and feel the ferocity of a multi-faceted smear campaign waged against Visionscape in the social media in the past two weeks and its promoters being called unprintable names. Haba!

    For instance, issue is made of the N50b investment in the undertaking. But those who think that is on the high side could not be said to be mindful of the size of Lagos population.

    Elsewhere in Ondo, another waste concessionaire, ZL Global Alliance Nigeria Limited, is shopping for N7b in funds, according to the CEO, Mrs. Abiola Bashorun. Tellingly, whereas Ondo generates 660 tonnes of waste daily with a population of less than 4 million, Lagos generates whopping 13,000 tonnes with a population of over 20 million.

    But the brickbats from the ongoing turf war aside, there can be no dispute on the clarity of Ambode’s dream and sense of urgency needed to bring same to fruition. The kernel is to have the over 13,000 tonnes of waste generated daily turned into value-creation, consistent with the vision of a smart city.

    Surely, filthy beaches and slimy waterways have no place in the megacity of the future.

    Indeed, waste management is not limited to residential neighborhoods alone. Even more daunting is the challenge of industrial waste. As more corporate citizens are born so is the risk of industrial pollution rising. A more robust regulatory and monitoring framework is surely needed to check the growing menace of unscrupulous manufacturers offloading toxic effluent into the waters indiscriminately. To say nothing about the hazards also posed by medical waste.

    Overall, the new thinking in sustainable environment management is such that integrates three key pillars: people, planet and profit. It means how we consume energy and conserve our environment impact directly on the economic health of the city which, in turn, dictate the quality of life we live.

    Of course, it has to be admitted that Lagos still lags behinds in terms of infrastructure to make this happen. The itinerant cart-pusher (Omolanke) of old was also a scavenger and a scourge. He eked a living from the garbage collected around the neighbour. And when no one was watching, he found somewhere to empty the filth amassed. The next day, the cycle was repeated.

    After the law banished the cart-pusher, PSP operators flooded the neighborhoods and the highways. Hundreds of them were licensed and paid to collect waste. Since government money was involved, the system soon got infected with some hanky-panky.

    For instance, stories are told of how the cartel in concert with some unscrupulous civil servants began to game the system mindlessly.

    Some would load big stones in their trucks and submit same for the tonnage to be weighed for payment. While Tunji Bello (now SSG) was still Environment Commissioner, that trick was foiled. Ownership of a compactor was thereafter made a pre-requisite.

    Before long, the buccaneers invented another trick: recycling. So, Operator A would, for instance, line up their fleet for official inspection and operation on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Same mostly rickety vehicles were passed on to Operator B who would bring them out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

    In effect, whereas two such players were listed and remunerated based on combined capacities of six trucks, the truth: only half of that actually existed.

    It was in an attempt to curb such sharp practices and infuse a fresh breath of air that Ambode, soon after assuming office, decided to turn the table. So, enter Visionscape.

    Regardless of the shortcomings at take-off, there is no denying the fact that effective waste management of the future in Lagos requires a big player like Visionscape expected to leverage its international partnerships to deliver a more livable and greener habitat for us.

    Mischief-makers ought to be told in unmistakable terms to cut it. It is a clarion call for for all reasonable people to join in the efforts to better our environment.

    Visionscape is expected to also provide an engineered sanitary landfill; upgrade and manage three transfer loading stations at Oshodi, Simpson and Agege as well as upgrade and manage waste depots at Ogudu, Mushin and Tapa.

    Driving along the Lekki highway the other day, one saw the upgrading works being done on the dumpsite at the Epe end. Beyond the remodeling, the one at Olusosun in Ojota should also be made to be more functional. As a matter of fact, part of the bargain is for Visionscape to provide alternatives to the Ojota dumpsite, a perennial source of noxious fumes and pungent stench for residents of that axis.

    Having surmounted the teething problems following the receipt of more operational equipment, we can only hope the concessionaire deliver promptly on the ancillary promises in due course. It is nice to see that, in conformity with United Nation guidelines for a humane and coordinated approach, some of the cart-pushers and the scavengers on dumpsites have been recruited and trained as landfill mining teams.

    Added to that is the 30,000 Community Sanitation Workers to be recruited under the Cleaner Lagos Initiative. We also look forward to seeing the much touted strategic partnership with recycling companies in action as part of the value chain.

     

  • Garbage in, garbage out

    •Nigerian cows worst milk producers, says minister; they are probably the worst fed too

    Popular wisdom is that you cannot give what you do not have and this will apply to Nigeria’s agricultural sector where even in the face of the best efforts, results have not been quite salutary. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, (himself a renowned farmer) has in the last two years had a daunting task convincing his compatriots that going back to land is the way to go.

    However, the harder he tries, the less the perceived impact on the economy. For instance, the country still suffers huge post-harvest losses in almost every crop ranging from tubers to citruses, tomatoes, pepper and nuts. Not much strategic effort has been made to develop processing and preservation facilities in major food belts of the country. Neither has export capacities been developed as a first measure to tackle what may have become Nigeria’s agric conundrum of lack in the midst of plenty and wastage.

    At another level, a large quantity of such common repast like poultry products consumed in Nigeria are still smuggled through Nigeria’s land borders; tomato puree and the bulk of cooking oil are still imported. The market for Nigeria’s major staple, rice is also dominated by foreign smuggled varieties. Milk is imported in large semi-processed form and repackaged in Nigeria by foreign firms.

    These items are daily dining table needs in nearly every household across the country and the import of this is that we spend billions of dollars in foreign exchange servicing these commodities that can be sourced in abundance locally.

    Milk, for instance, which is the subject of this editorial, is of a peculiar report. Chief Ogbeh at a function in Lagos lamented the fact that Nigerian cows are the worst milk producers globally. The average cow in Nigeria, he said, produces less than one litre of milk per day. Whereas the Dutch cow does about 50 litres per day while the American cow would deliver nearly 100 litres of milk per day; the Nigerian example is sure pathetic.

    This is really a dire picture and a source of worry. The minister attributed the situation to the nomadic cattle-rearing method in Nigeria which ultimately affects meat and milk production. He said that the earlier farmers started developing ranches, the better for the entire animal farming value chain.

    One of the remedies being worked out by his ministry to give the agric sector a boost is the imminent restructuring of the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) to create a branch in every local government so as to bring finance to the rural farmers.

    While we commend the minister for identifying some of the problems in his sector and initiating some solution, the matter of animal husbandry in Nigeria and the production of such essentials as milk and beef require a more robust approach, both for the political upheaval arising from the activities of the itinerant cattle breeders and the huge economics of providing these vital proteins for Nigerians. There is also the need to check the outflow of huge foreign exchange.

    It is not enough to set up rural branches of the BoA as finance is not a key index limiting the setting up of ranches or modern cattle breeding enclaves. It is also not enough to blame the cows for what we feed them is what they give back. For a start, the minister could use his good offices to liaise with some governors and private investors to set up private pilot full process commercial ranches in three or four states of the country.

    These farms would not only serve as models of modern animal farming, they would immediately minimise the itinerary of herders as they could easily supply these ranches cows for milk and beef.

    Many states of the northeast and northwest have ample land for this experimentation. Investors are not in short supply; what is lacking is official will to take practical steps.

  • Garbage compounds councils’ woes

    Garbage compounds councils’ woes

    Local councils have an unenviable profile: no good roads, no water, no electricity. Now, uncleared garbade threatens, GBENGA OMOKUNU reports

    Council Areas in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) now have something new to lament: garbage.

    Filth never quite disappeared, though, but the Muhammad Bello administration sought to give the nation’s seat of power a new, healthy outlook. The minister reintroduced the monthly sanitation exercise. A few months ago, all six council areas cleaned up their streets and drainage. But the gutters and roads are filling up again, some to overflowing.

    This is the picture in some places in Kuje, Abaji and some other area councils. It is a challenge residents must add to such others as poor roads, lack of water and woeful power supply, among others.

    When Malam Bello re-introduced the monthly exercise, many residents doubted its effectiveness. Some termed it another government project that was bound to fail. Some also saw it as a waste of time and resources but some others thought that something good might come out of it, only if certain things were put in place.

    Many of the residents who spoke with Abuja Review stated that each area council in the FCT needed to embark on sensitisation of the residents as the exercise would be fruitless without the participation of the residents.

    “I never knew about the sanitation exercise until someone told me about it. I know many other FCT residents do not know what it is about. So there should be urgent need for sensitisation of the people,” Ibrahim Onah, a resident of Kuje said.

    While some of them stated that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise was welcome, they emphasised the need for strict enforcement of environmental laws to achieve the desired result.

    They blamed the current sanitation challenges facing the territory on ignorance on the part of some residents and the failure of the area councils to live up to expectation.

    A resident of Kuje, James Abadi while using Kuje as example stated that the woeful waste situation in Kuje followed the failure of the area council to enforce environmental laws.

    Abadi stated that the re-introduction of the monthly sanitation exercise was a step in the right direction but added that there was need for regular monitoring by officials.

    He said, “I think the most important thing to do to achieve the desired cleanliness in Kuje and other area councils is for the council to embark on aggressive sensitisation.

    People need to be sensitised on the dangers of a dirty environment. It is funny but some people do not know that there are health implications of a dirty environment. I think that the area councils are not doing anything to get the people informed.

    “With the re-introduction of the sanitation exercise, we can see that the minister has shown commitment to promote sanitation in FCT, health officials in the various councils and FCTA must live up to expectations to enlighten the people,” he said.

    A resident of Gwagwalada, John Chitta, while agreeing to the sensitisation of the residents, also blamed the dirtiness in the territory on failure to regularly evacuate refuse dumps by the councils.

    “I can remember that there was a time that all the roads in Gwagwalada were littered with refuse. I don’t know what really happened then but it wasn’t a good experience. Even now, regular evacuation of refuse is still not being done,” he said.

    He stated that over the years, the council had continuously failed the people but called for policies that would bring about a regular evacuation of refuse in the area, adding that such measures will definitely restore the confidence of residents in the council.

    Chitta who stated that sanitation was a collective thing, added that if residents would work hard, ensuring that refuse from their homes were gathered at the various points, it was left for the council administration to do their part and complement the residents’ effort.

    “We are all in support of the exercise. The minister started on a good note and we pray it will continue that way because we have seen situations in Gwagwalada where refuse dump had almost cover the entire road without evacuation. We pray as this exercise continues, we will not experience that again. But see what is happening now everywhere is dirty again,” he said.

    For Amina Ibrahim, a resident of Kubwa, Bwari area council, if the area councils are to be sincere in the implementation of the newly launched monthly sanitation exercise, dirty environment in the FCT will become a thing of the past.

    “There are so many things the councils should do. We cannot talk about sanitation without provision for evacuation from the various points. This issue is an important issue and should be a daily affairs or weekly affairs. If it is left to pile up, it is another problem,” she said.

    Ibrahim also called on the area councils’ administration to bring out designated refuse dumps where there are none, while urging them to designate protected places as refuse dumps so as not to affect the health of people living around that particular area.

    While expressing hope that residents of the territory would be ready to pay their bills if the evacuation was regular and consistent, Ibrahim stated that the past experiences by the residents as pertaining evacuation has made them uncooperative.

    He advocated for a change of attitude on the part of residents adding that the act of dumping refuse in drainage system during rains was a major cause of flooding in the area.

    A resident of Dutse Alhaji in Bwari area council, Gabriel Isah also agreed that the sanitation exercise cannot be successful without the residents’ cooperation and called on FCT residents to have an attitudinal change and ensure that they take advantage of the various designated dumping points across the councils.

    “We need an attitudinal change in keeping our environment clean. We have been talking about change; change is not all about government alone. Change is also about each and every one of us as individuals. If we do not take sanitation as our collective responsibility, then there will be a problem.

    “We cannot continue to wait for government. We have to do our own part because when there is any outbreak of any disease in our area, it affects us. We have to wake up and cannot wait for government to do everything for us.

    “We must keep our surrounding clean to guard against infections before calling for assistance from government.

    “We also wait on the area councils to bring back health officials as was done in the past to inspect houses and ensure that defaulters are prosecuted.”

     

  • Residents worry over heaps of garbage

    Residents worry over heaps of garbage

    Residents of Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have decried the growing heaps of refuse and the inability of the council to evacuate them.

    The heaps of garbage at the front of the market along Kuje-Gwagwalada Road, General Hospital Junction and various dump grounds may lead to an outbreak of epidemic if urgent steps are not taken.

    Some residents who spoke with Abuja Review said the huge garbage heaps in their various communities have not been evacuated for a long time.

    Mrs. Blessing Gata, a resident of Sauka area behind the Gomo Palace said the garbage close to her house has not been evacuated for over a month.

    “I do not know why the area council authorities have not come to evacuate waste in this area for more than one month now. The huge garbage heap is breeding mosquitoes which make people victims of malaria. Now that the rains will start soon, it will be terrible. I am appealing with the Kuje Area Council to come and evacuate the refuse so that we can live a healthy life,” Gata said.

    Mr. Andrew David, who resides at Anguwan Gade Extension lamented the growing heaps of garbage which he said poses danger to healthy living.

    He, however, appealed to the relevant authorities in charge of evacuating waste in the area to take the necessary step in ensuring sanity in the area.

    “It has been a while I saw people evacuating waste in this area. We do not actually know what is happening. We are appealing to the authorities to come and evacuate the waste because it is malodorous.

    Reacting, the Kuje Head of Environmental Sanitation Department, Mr. Abdulkarim Abdulrazaq, said the waste evacuation exercise was no longer handled by area council, saying it is currently handled by the Satellite Town Development Authorities (STDA) and monitored by the department.

    He, however, called on residents of the area to stop the improper dumping of garbage by the road side.

    “The heap of garbage in some areas in the council results from improper disposal of refuse by some residents.

    “Despite the departments’ effort on evacuation and keeping the environment clean, some people have failed to comply with sanitation rules and regulations.

    “The council is also trying its best in terms of creating awareness on proper waste disposal but some residents have refused to do the right thing,” he said.

  • Eking a living from garbage dumps

    Eking a living from garbage dumps

    The garbage dump is at Badarawa Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School in Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The heap is alleged to have been generated from the homes of the rich who reside in the Malali Government Reserved Area (GRA).

    While the continuous dumping of refuse in the school has been a source of concern to many, it has become a source of revenue for several young men who visit the dump site as early as 7:00 a.m. daily to search for scraps.

    Sometimes, only the early callers collect enough scraps, while others who arrive late have to go to other refuse dumps to forage for scraps.  Atimes, they go from house to house collecting garbage from residents. The young men look unkempt and stink.

    Sadly, they search for metals with only a little iron fastened to a stick without any nose mask to prevent them from inhaling the stench from the refuse dump. They also do not care about diseases they might contract from such putrid areas.

    Dahiru Badarawa is one of those who visit garbage dumps. He told our correspondent that he feeds his family of three either by going from house to house to collect refuse or scavenging for scrap metals and aluminum at dumps.

    He also said he is into the business to survive since he didn’t want to engage in begging. Despite the risk involved, Badarawa is determined to continue with it, even though he does this without taking any precautionary measures.

    He further told our correspondent that he takes between N50 and N200 for every refuse he collects, depending on the size. According to him, when he takes the refuse to the dump site, he separates “the useful items” and waits for buyers. He added that “from this money, I was able to marry my wife with whom I have a baby girl. It is better than going about begging. I don’t intend to leave this job soon, except the government provides a better job for me.”

    Like Badarawa, 21-year-old Ibrahim Ismail begins his day at the refuse site where he collects scrap metals for sale. He told our correspondent that he has realised that no scrap is waste. He is among several young men who go from one refuse dump to the other across Kaduna metropolis, scavenging for used containers, cans, metals and, sometimes, used rubber containers which they sell.

    The young men cut the picture of wacky people. Some of them carry garbage-laden sacks on their backs.

    Ismail said: “Every morning, I go to the waste sites to pick empty cans and plastic bottles. Sometimes, if I am lucky, I come across discarded telephone handsets. They fetch me better money than the other items. A kilogramme of cans and plastic bottles costs between N25 and N30. I collect up to 30 kilogrammes on a good day. That gives me about N1000 from the day’s adventure.”

    He claimed to have been in the business for almost five years and uses the proceeds to support his education at the Government Day Secondary School, Badarawa where he is in SS 1.

    Investigation revealed that some officials of the Kaduna State Environmental Protection Agency may be encouraging the young men to carry out their activities. At the Badarawa garbage site, a truck belonging to the Kaduna State Environmental Protection Agency (KEPA) drove into the site and the scavengers assisted in loading the garbage into the truck.

    On whether they were paid for the service, they said they assist in loading the trucks because they are allowed to scavenge at the site. Although the site is malodorous, the young men search through the refuse heap with their bare hands and no protective footwears, hand gloves or nose mask.

    They believe their health is not at risk as it is God who protects mankind from diseases, arguing that there are many people who contract diseases even in the four walls of their homes.

    Dahiru Badarawa told our correspondent that he was not scared of any infection, because all these years he has been in the business, he has never come in contact with any infection.

    On the current outbreak of Ebola virus, he said: “I am aware of one Ebola that they said is killing people. As far as we are concerned, those people did not contact Ebola from picking ‘bola’. So, they should go and look for where they got the disease from. For us, we will continue to do our business without any fear of Ebola.”

    It was observed that the scavengers may not only pose serious risk to themselves, but also to others who come in contact with them. This is so because they tend to move about with same wears they use at the refuse sites.

    Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim blamed the notion of the scavengers on their level of education, exposure and information.  Ibrahim argued that there is no doubt that the scavengers are exposed to various health hazards.

    “For example, their physical body is exposed to some hazards such as stepping on broken bottles or other sharp objects buried in the waste. It is a fact that some of these boys don’t wear hand gloves and they go about with ordinary bathroom slippers.

    “So, when they are wounded by such objects, the wounds are vulnerable to infection. The current health challenge the country is experiencing is the Ebola Virus Disease. People are discouraged from eating bush meat and having contacts with dead animals. I am not saying there is Ebola in the garbage heap they pick from, but how are they sure that no dead animal is thrown into the garbage they touch with their bare hands?” Ibrahim asked.

    Noting that garbage sites are generally known as places where people go to urinate and pass faeces, Ibrahim said: “Now, if we say Ebola can be transmitted through contact with body fluids, how are the scavengers sure of the health status of those who passed those faeces and urine?”

    However, a visit to where the scavengers sell their products on Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway revealed what the items are used for. One of the buyers, who refused to disclose his identity on the excuse that his boss was not around, said the recycling technology has become a global business.

    He said: “We buy cans and sell them to some factories that turn them to aluminium pots or iron rods, while electric wires are recycled into women earrings, necklaces and hand chains.