The Truck Did Not Come: What Uncollected Garbage Does to Your Health

Anyone who lives in Lagos knows the sound of the garbage collection truck. When it fails to come on the expected day, the whole street feels it within a few days. Bins fill, then overflow. Bags pile up beside them. In no time, the heap smells, attracts a swarm of flies and invites a few stray dogs. Nobody planned it; it is simply what happens when waste waits longer than it should.

Timing is the part of waste management we rarely discuss, yet it matters most for health. Garbage is not dangerous the moment it is thrown away. It becomes dangerous when it remains there for long. In tropical heat, food waste starts to rot within a day or two. Flies soon lay eggs in it. Rats are not far behind. Collection on schedule breaks that chain. Collection that comes late or does not come at all gives disease a head start.

This situation is a global lesson. The United Nations Environment Programme published its Global Waste Management Outlook in 2024. It estimates that the world produced 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste in 2023. That figure could reach 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. The same report found that about 2.7 billion people have no waste collection at all. In richer cities, the truck arrives on a fixed day, and people plan their week around it. Good waste management is boring because it is dependable. In poorer places, the gap between one collection and the next is where open dumping and burning begin. People cannot keep garbage in the house forever.

Africa feels this pressure severely. Its cities are growing faster than the services meant to keep them clean. The UNEP report places Sub-Saharan Africa among the regions with the lowest collection rates. Where trucks cannot reach narrow lanes or crowded settlements, households find their own answers. They bury, burn or tip refuse into the nearest drain. None of these choices is healthy.

Now, Lagos is the clearest example on the continent of Africa. In July 2026, the managing director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority, known as LAWMA, said the state produces between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste every day. He put the population at about 22 million. Private operators collect from homes and businesses. The waste then goes to disposal sites such as Olusosun in Ojota, which receives about 10,000 tonnes daily. LAWMA says Olusosun and Solous 3 have reached the end of their operational lives. It says Lagos needs about 2,000 compactor trucks to cope. It also says heavy rain has damaged access roads at Olusosun and slowed collection. Residents complain about paying for a service they barely see. The refuse waits, and the street pays.

So what does late collection do to health? Bags split open, and food scraps spill across the ground. Flies move between the heap and the open pot of soup at the corner stall. Typhoid and diarrhoeal diseases travel on those wings. Nigeria had a severe cholera outbreak in 2021. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control recorded more than 111,000 suspected cases and over 3,600 deaths. Cholera has several causes. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are at its core. Uncollected waste adds to both.

Next, consider the rain. A delayed collection in the rainy season is not the same as a delayed collection in January. Loose plastic and polythene wash into drains within hours. Blocked drains hold standing water, and standing water breeds mosquitoes. In recent reports, the World Health Organization has put Nigeria at about 26% of the world’s malaria cases and about 31% of its deaths. Bed nets and treatment matter. So do clear drains. Flooding follows blocked channels. Floodwater in a crowded city carries sewage, sharp objects and bacteria into homes and shops.

Rats arrive soon after. They love heaps that are not cleared on time. Lassa fever and leptospirosis are both linked to rodents. Then comes fire. When garbage has waited too long and the smell becomes unbearable, many people set it alight. Burning mixed waste, especially plastic, releases fine particles and harmful chemicals into the air. A child with asthma will feel it first. An older neighbour with a weak chest will feel it next. The fire solves the problem of smell for an hour. The lungs handle the rest.

Now, it is fair to ask why collection runs late and expect answers. The government must fund the system properly. Contractors must be paid on time. Trucks must be maintained, and access roads must be protected. More transfer stations must be built so that trucks spend less time queuing at the dump. Residents are right to demand reliability from a service they pay for.

However, waiting for perfect collection is a poor health strategy. Delay is a reality in our cities for now. What we do during the delay decides whether it becomes a hazard. This is where personal responsibility comes in. A household that stores waste properly can survive a missed collection without harm. A household that does not will create a problem within two days.

Start with the bin itself. Use one with a tight lid. Keep it off the ground, if you can, and away from the kitchen door. Tie bags firmly before putting them out. Separate wet waste from dry waste, since food scraps cause most of the smell and attract most of the pests. Set aside bottles, cans and cardboard, which a collector will buy. If collection is late, keep the garbage in a covered container inside your compound. Do not dump it at the roadside, where animals will tear it open and rain will scatter it.

Never use the drain as a shortcut. Not at night, and not when the truck is three days late. That bag will return to your street and probably to your house with the next downpour. Do not burn refuse. If you pay a collector, pay promptly and keep records. Then you can complain with proof when service fails. In Lagos, the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) says residents should contact the authority directly if their operator fails to collect. The response tends to come faster when a whole street or estate raises an alarm.

Agree with your neighbours on a shared system such as a common bin point that is cleaned daily. Wash your hands after handling refuse. Keep children away from heaps. Clear your own gutter on sanitation day. Train the young ones in your house on these habits.

Lagos will not fix its waste system overnight, and neither will any other Nigerian city. The trucks may run late again this week. What matters is what happens between one collection and the next one. How we manage that stretch of time is a health decision.

Ojenagbon, a health communication expert and certified management trainer, lives in Lagos.