Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, 35-year-old Nigerian social entrepreneur, already knew as a student that she wanted to set up a recycling business to address her country’s large waste problem.
Upon graduation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology—or MIT—where she specialized in waste management, she returned to her home country to found Wecyclers in 2012.
The company’s employees tour households by bicycle and gather their waste in exchange for points which later are translated into prizes or incentives for the families. The material is weighed and sorted before sold to recyclers.
“I saw the opportunity that was there, in this field, and I also saw the impact we could have on people’s lives, and that’s really what drove me,” Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola said in NdaniTV’s Yeong CEO program in 2014.
She has received awards from MIT and won Cartier Women’s Initiative Award in 2013.
