The Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN) returned from a 10-day study tour of Bavaria, Germany on 2 October and on 4 October set out a programme that would push Nigerian wastewater facilities from disposal-only plants to resource-recovery sites, with decentralised treatment for estates and hotels and dried sewage sludge fed to cement kilns (News Agency of Nigeria; Realnews Magazine).
Key takeaways
- AWAMN's 10-day study tour ran from 19 to 26 September in Nuremberg, Germany, funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (News Agency of Nigeria).
- The delegation examined decentralised modular wastewater systems at Klara GmbH, sludge-to-cement pellets at UTP Umwelttechnik Pöhnl GmbH and digital pump-station monitoring from FlowChief GmbH (News Agency of Nigeria).
- AWAMN identified seven action areas, including a circular-economy industrial park proposed for the Epe-Ogun axis (Realnews Magazine).
- National President Dr Olugbenga Adebola framed the trip as a search for adaptable principles, not a model to copy verbatim (News Agency of Nigeria).
What happened
Dr Olugbenga Adebola, National President of AWAMN, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Lagos after the delegation returned from Nuremberg, where the study tour was coordinated by Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft (bbw) GmbH in partnership with AWAMN (News Agency of Nigeria; Realnews Magazine). He said the tour focused on environmental technologies, waste management, circular economy, and sewage and wastewater management, and that it demonstrated "technology alone could not address environmental challenges without effective governance and public participation" (News Agency of Nigeria).
On the wastewater side, the delegation visited Klara GmbH for decentralised modular plants intended for communities, estates and hotels without central sewage, which Adebola said could reduce reliance on septic tanks and soakaways that risk groundwater contamination and could be considered for estates and developments in Lagos and Abuja (News Agency of Nigeria). At UTP Umwelttechnik Pöhnl GmbH, the group saw sewage sludge converted into dried pellets for cement production, prompting AWAMN to explore partnerships between wastewater authorities and cement manufacturers to use treated sludge as an energy resource (News Agency of Nigeria). Visits to Klärwerk 1 Nuremberg and the Freystadt sewage treatment plants showed electricity generation from biogas, phosphorus recovery for fertiliser, and treated water reused for agriculture, leading Adebola to call for Nigerian wastewater facilities to be "redesigned as resource recovery centres rather than facilities focused solely on disposal" (Realnews Magazine).
On the digital and equipment side, FlowChief GmbH presented systems for monitoring sewage flows, pump stations and waste collection operations, with applications to truck-route monitoring, early blockage warnings and operational cost reduction (News Agency of Nigeria). At Clearfield PPU Water Systems, the delegation reviewed water treatment and pipe systems aimed at lower energy use and corrosion resistance, which Adebola said could suit coastal communities and lend themselves to local manufacturing by Nigerian businesses (News Agency of Nigeria). At HUBER SE, AWAMN studied screening, grit separation and sludge drying equipment, and the association said it would pursue technology transfer, local assembly and technical training to improve equipment maintenance in Nigeria (Realnews Magazine).
Adebola said AWAMN had identified seven major areas for possible action, including shifting from waste disposal to resource management, decentralising wastewater treatment, establishing circular-economy industrial parks, digitalising waste management operations, developing a permanent technical training centre, establishing a youth green fund, and converting sewage sludge into useful products (News Agency of Nigeria). He proposed a circular-economy industrial park in the Epe-Ogun axis that would integrate sludge-to-energy, equipment manufacturing and organic waste processing, an AWAMN-bbw skills academy to build technical capacity, and youth-led biogas enterprises in major markets to convert organic waste into cooking gas (Realnews Magazine). Adebola said AWAMN would also explore partnerships involving the Lagos State Waste Management Office and cement manufacturers to use treated and dried sewage sludge (News Agency of Nigeria).
Specification read
The reported package is a policy and procurement framework rather than a single plant, so no flow in m³/day, BOD or COD in mg/L, or population equivalent was reported in the supplied sources. A buyer reading the announcement should treat the project class as small-to-medium decentralised wastewater treatment plus sludge-to-energy reuse, which sits at the front (screening and grit removal at the headworks via integrated sewage treatment packages) and at the back end of the treatment train, where the sludge line takes primary and biological residuals through thickening, dewatering and drying before the dried cake is sent to a cement kiln. If your estate, hotel or coastal development currently runs on septic tanks and soakaways, or your municipal plant is being asked by regulators to recover biogas, phosphorus and reusable water rather than just meet effluent BOD/COD limits, this announcement is the first signal of where the equipment specification for new builds in Lagos, Abuja and the Epe-Ogun corridor is heading. Buyers comparing options should weigh decentralised modular trains against the energy baseline of conventional aeration; for context on the pump and aeration energy side of that comparison, see the Top Wastewater Pumps Energy Efficiency Comparison 2026, and for influent characterisation and BOD/COD removal choices that a Lagos- or Abuja-style estate plant would face, see the Best Technology to Remove COD BOD From Industrial Wastewater (2026 Buyer Guide).
FAQ
What scale of plant is AWAMN proposing?
The supplied sources do not report a flow rate, population equivalent or capacity figure for any of the proposed Nigerian facilities; AWAMN described the package as decentralised modular plants for communities, estates and hotels, but the underlying numbers were not given (News Agency of Nigeria).
Who is funding the Nigerian rollout and what is the lead time?
The Bavaria study tour was funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and coordinated by bbw GmbH, but the supplied sources do not state a budget, financing route or delivery schedule for the proposed Nigerian projects (News Agency of Nigeria).
Which suppliers are being considered for technology transfer?
The delegation engaged Klara GmbH on decentralised wastewater systems, UTP Umwelttechnik Pöhnl GmbH on sludge-to-cement pellets, FlowChief GmbH on digital monitoring, Clearfield PPU Water Systems on water and pipe systems, and HUBER SE on screening, grit and sludge drying equipment; AWAMN framed next steps as technology transfer, local assembly and training rather than direct procurement (Realnews Magazine).
What regulatory direction is AWAMN asking Nigerian authorities to take?
Adebola called for stronger regulation and citizen participation, for wastewater facilities to be redesigned as resource-recovery centres, and for source segregation and landfill-gas and leachate management in the municipal waste stream (News Agency of Nigeria).
