Supporting wastepickers to build a future and save the planet

Our world is amazing. I always look at the beauty of the world around us in awe. We often ignore the birds singing, or the sound of the leaves in the breeze, in our rush to get to work. Maybe some will have gone ski-ing or a beach holiday. Sometimes you need to get away. But often, my thoughts turn to those individuals and families, that are in the developing countries, where their main focus is making enough money to put food on the table.

As many of you, who have worked with me know, my experience is in business delivery, in getting things done. But, I also have a passion for the circular economy, specifically waste to wealth. Its about working with waste to help people make a living. Sure its being done all the time but my focus is on helping waste pickers. The individuals you see working in landfills, to identify raw materials that can be sold for money. This is an underrated, looked down upon, dangerous segment of work. I would like to change that. I want to create hope where there is none. I want to create a way forward for the next generation that is full of opportunity.

So in my spare time, I created a mobile app specifically focused on waste to wealth. It serves as booking engine with a statement page so that individuals can see what money they have generated. I also built a smart (physical) IoT waste sensor that has a camera and smell sensor. This can be used globally and uses a particle board. The readings feed directly into the mobile app.

I am also establishing a Charity to support the education of waste pickers. The aim is specifically – Skills development, Employment and Job creation To do this, I created a wastepicker alliance where I have, to date, pulled together 17 CEOs across 12 countries in Africa. These are dynamic CEOs that I have handpicked. They are heavily involved in the various waste to wealth sectors in their countries. I am slowly adding more CEOs from other countries. I did this to encourage and enable cross border knowledge transfer and Education. I am structuring the training programme for the waste pickers,

Currently I have picked two NGOs, one in Nigeria and one in Sierra Leone, who will assist with piloting and rolling out training to the existing waste pickers, including those who want to work in this area. The Charity funds will be used to fund the NGOs, to educate the waste pickers, where they will have real life experience with a local recycler and guaranteed and better working environments.

There was also another benefit in regards to the cross border knowledge transfer. The NGO in Sierra Leone expressed an interest in Fly Farming. This is a family of Black Soldier flies that eats food waste. The larvae from these flies are fed on this food waste and then grilled and made into chicken feed, This is about as organic as it gets ??. Well I have two current members in the alliance that have businesses focused on this. The one member in Kenya will help the NGO in Sierra Leone build this business using their starter packs. Brilliant, I say. This is my aspiration. That the alliance members in each country can support the growth of their specialisms in other countries. And the Charity will support this development.

I will keep people updated on our developments. I am doing this on my own – but I have the skills to do this. But if anyone is interested in assisting, please do let me know. I would also ask, if any of you have ESG budgets?and would be interested in pledging funds to the Charity, please also let me know. But its onwards and upwards. I know I am making a difference to lives and that’s what counts.