Meet The Nigerian Entrepreneur Who Built A Factory That Recycles Tyres & Has Over 100 Employees

Nigerian entrepreneur Ifedolapo Runsewe , builds a factory where over 150,000 tyres have been recycled into paving blocks and tiles annually.

Ifedolapo started with 4 employees in 2020, and has over 128 now as she’s taken 300,000 discarded tyres from the streets as at this year.

As an environmentally conscious Nigerian, Ifedolapo Runsewe has always been interested in waste management and recycling in the country and around the world. While several recycling companies have focused on plastics, glass and paper recycling, very few companies were paying any attention to the millions of vehicle tyres that were improperly disposed of around the country.

Realising that over 10 million tyres are discarded annually, she decided that her most impactful contribution to waste management in Nigeria would be to build competence in used tyre waste management and develop a world-class recycling company to help the country properly manage a significant chunk of this annual waste.

After spending the last six years learning about tyre waste management, Runsewe collaborated with some of the best minds in business to launch Freetown Waste Management Recycle Limited. Hear her: “We like to think of “Freetown Waste” as clearing the city of waste in a systematic and sustainable manner.”

Today, the outfit employs over 100 people full-time who recycle over 150,000 waste tyres annually.