In this trying times of weird un-African diseases and dangerouse climate change caused by our neglect of our eco-system, one person has found a way to rope these challenges into an opportunity to bring positive change in our enviroment.
Meet our WCW this week
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, the founder and CEO of Wecyclers, a social enterprise that tackles the city’s waste problems using incentives to get the cooperation of low-income households.
Households wastes are picked up for free by Wecyclers using specially adapted bicycles and as an incentives among low-income households to participate, rewards are given for every kilogram recycled, which can be redeemed for electronics, foodstuffs, basic household items, training classes and even money. In turn, the waste is then sold to recycling plants who shred it to make products such as mattress and pillow stuffing.
The rewards have been funded in partnership with big brands such as Coca Cola and GlaxoSmithKline.
Since launching two years ago, Wecyclers has employed over 80 Lagosians, from cargo-bike collectors to waste sorters, who have cleared over 525 tons of waste from the streets and connected over 6,500 households to the service.
She is our WCW because she is smart, innovative and in her own way, taken some people out of the streets by creating employment.
Her dream is to recruit over 500,000 employees around the country! Cheers to taking another crack at that cliche that Africans don’t recycle..
Our WCW rocks!
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