Destiny Frederick established EcoFuture and Philip Ikwuegu Co-found the company during a recruitment and networking event attended by the Founder Destiny Frederick.
During my NYSC orientation camp I saw the number of graduates with expectation for white collar jobs and by imaging the number of graduates coming behind I realized that youths need to create jobs for themselves. With my belief that cleanliness is next to godliness, I decided to focus on sanitation. With my research on waste management and recycling, I realized that unmanaged landfills and illegal dumpsite leave Edo State residents vulnerable to increased blockage, erosion, pollution and disease spread. Even with the cost of private waste collection of $15 per month, it remains out of reach for the 85% of low income Edo state residents living with less than $2 per day.
Link to online video (if available)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcjpj5Bzx6E&feature=em-upload_owner
Your products and services
Ecofuture is addressing the development challenge of waste management and unemployment by offering sustainable and convenient recycling services to low/middle income households and business establishment including private and government sector while creating grassroots jobs and economic partnerships.
EcoFuture collects recyclable waste such as plastic bags, plastic bottles (PET), brown corrugated carton and used beverage aluminium cans at the household and business establishment level using SMS, geomap and smart sensor waste bin. The smart sensor waste bin is designed and manufactured locally and is operated by our team. At collection, each household’s materials is weighed and this weight is then entered into our database. Households are then rewarded with redeemable points based on the volume and quality of recyclables that they give us. As households accumulate points over time, they can redeem their points for specific rewards like food items, health insurance and cash based on the quantity and type of materials they recycle with us.
Your success factors
- Collection method (internet of things)
- Space for collection and storage of and recyclables waste
- Geographical location, particularly in relation to markets for finished products
- Volume of recyclable materials
- Households registration on our platform
Your factors differentiating and disruptive compared to the existing
Ecofuture model for waste management is more appealing than the present alternatives of cart pushing and indiscriminate dumping of waste. We work to change the orientation of the communities and educate them on the importance of recycling to environmental sustainability, community health and flood mitigation. As neighbourhoods become cleaner, the health of the people within that neighbourhood improves and residents are able to take pride in their neighbourhoods.
Recycling manufacturers uses alternative products such as trees to produce cartons which causes deforestation, bauxite to produce aluminium ingot/cans which causes earth disruption, fossil fuel to produce plastics which releases carbon (IV) oxide emission at point of production. These alternative products contribute to global warming in Nigeria.
The alternative products are:
(a) 120% more expensive compared to recyclable products.
(b) Utilizes excess energy and time for production because they are virgin materials,
(c) Reduces the profit margin of the products because they must meet the government regulatory price of selling their products.
Your business model (how do you make money?)
EcoFuture is a waste recovery company that collects recyclable waste such as PET plastics, Used beverage aluminium cans, brown corrugated carton and nylon plastics from households and business establishment in exchange of incentives, our procurement team channel these waste to our recovery facility where we process with waste compactor and shredder equipment and package according to our customers specification using third party logistics for delivery with cash on delivery payment policy.
A few words about your competitors
They are in the Western Region of Nigeria but our competitive advantage is using internet of things to build smart communities and cities in the process.
RecyclePoints, Lagos
Wecyclers, Lagos
Your website
www.ecofuture.com.ng
Your efforts has reduced urban waste challenges. Great work.
Dear Destiny,
Please receive my heartfelt congrats. This is great and a big lesson. I have been massaging my desire for starting and promoting social enterprises – a contribution I would like to make throughout the rest of my life. Surely, I will learn a lot from your experiences and for that matter let me know how I can stay in touch.
Thank you,
Baale Samuel
Kampala Uganda – East Africa
You are really doing a great job! My question is, how were you able to get funding for your idea? Funding for purchase the machines, smart wastebins and other logistics like place of proccessing?