Wecyclers
The most important reason for waste management is the protection of the environment and the health of the population. One significant benefit of waste management is that recycled materials can be reused in different ways. This means that the number of raw materials and energy used in making various items will be reduced as it takes less energy to recycle trash than to throw it away.
Wecyclers is a profit-making social enterprise specialized in the promotion of environmental sustainability and economic development through the recycling of waste, particularly plastics. The company also recycles other collectables like glass containers, aluminium can containers, and used papers.
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola cofounded Wecyclers in 2012, using low-cost cargo bicycles called “wecycles” to provide convenient recycling services to households across Nigeria. Bilikiss is a social entrepreneur, with expertise in Public Service, Social Enterprise, Climate Change, Recycling, Economic Opportunity and Sustainable Development. She currently serves as the Director-General of the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB).
Wecyclers gives households the opportunity to capture value from their waste by their rewards-for-recycling platform. The company, through this platform, rewards participants with points per kilogram of recycled waste brought forward, which they can exchange for essential goods such as food, cellphone airtime, and household items.
Since August 2012, Wecyclers has registered over 15,000 households for collection services in 3 Lagos neighbourhoods, collected over 3,000 metric tons of recyclable materials, created over 100 jobs and rewarded subscribers with over $75,000 worth of gifts and cash prizes.
Once the waste has been collected, they are sorted, recycled, packaged and sold to manufacturers as raw materials. This is done in partnership with the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA). The company also partners with corporates and educational institutions such as FCMB, DHL, Unilever, Oracle, the Nigerian Bottling Company, MIT Sloan School of Management and others.
Read also: Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola
In 2015, Wecyclers won $55,000 from Case Foundation during the #PitchForLagos event at the Lagos Startup Week for encouraging waste recycling. In 2019, the company won $227,000 African Development Prize for its role in waste management in Lagos state. Wecyclers also received a grant from the Lagos State Government recently to expand their services into two new local government areas, which has created over 100 jobs, micro-enterprises and additional reach of over 60,000 Lagosians.
Over the years, Wecyclers has received a number of awards and recognition for their exploits, including the King Baudouin African Development Prize for 2018/2019, Lé Mondé Smart Cities 2017 Global Innovation Award, The Tech Intel Environmental Awards 2013, among many others.
Wecyclers is really building a low-cost waste management infrastructure by providing incentives for people to embrace the environmentally friendly habit of recycling their waste, and they show no signs of slowing down.
For more information, please visit http://wecyclers.com/