This neighbourhood initiative in Havana is worth studying: electric tricycles charged with solar power, collecting waste close to where people live. For Lagos, smaller collection vehicles have a clear role: reaching streets that compactors struggle to access and taking waste to transfer stations, where larger trucks handle the onward journey. They complement our PSP compactors, not replace them. We have already run successful pilots with tricycle collection vehicles in Ibeju-Lekki LCDA and Lagos Island LGA. Local entrepreneurs are also building electric tricycle systems. There is a practical foundation here to build on. For this model, payment would be on a pay-as-you-go basis. Collection teams would carry POS machines so residents can pay immediately for the service rendered. The charge should be clear before collection, with a receipt issued and each payment linked to a recorded pickup. This would operate within the LAWMA-regulated system, working with our PSP operators. But buying vehicles is only the beginning. Where will they discharge? Who will maintain them? Can charging and onward evacuation keep pace with daily collection? Can the vehicles carry their intended loads safely on our roads? Without these arrangements, we risk moving waste from one bottleneck to another. I am particularly interested in platforms that can be built, repaired and improved locally, with open-source designs that allow more engineers and businesses to contribute. We should be developing local capability alongside improving collection. A resident should not have to accept unreliable waste collection because their street is difficult for a large truck to reach. There is room for more players. I would welcome a conversation with the teams at @SiltechWorld, @Thinkbikesngl, @qoraymobility and @maxdrive_ai, and with @moniepointng and @OPay_NG on the payment side. This invitation is also open to EV engineers, fabricators, battery and charging specialists, software developers and entrepreneurs whose work we may not yet know. Let’s build local, open-source electric tricycle platforms for waste collection together. In Havana, Garbage Trucks Replaced by Solar-Powered Tricycles youtu.be/U4E-cd_XKs0?si=T4pQ… via @YouTube