Entrepreneurship Zone: 29 January 2025 : Nigeria: Entrepreneur turns trash into cash with rubber recycling business

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Entrepreneurship Zone: 29 January 2025 : Nigeria: Entrepreneur turns trash
into cash with rubber recycling business

 


 

 


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Ifedolapo Runsewe, the founder and managing director of Freee Recycle.
Photo by Zaniel Dada, bird story agency

By Zaniel Dada, bird story agency

 

How Ifedolapo Runsewe started a waste management company that transforms
discarded vehicle tyres into usable products.

Ifedolapo Runsewe is prospecting for “black gold”. Although Nigeria is one
of the world’s leading crude oil exporters, this time oil is not the black
gold she is looking for.

 

An entrepreneur based in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, Runsewe is the
founder of Freee Recycle, a waste management company that transforms
discarded vehicle tyres into usable products. Freee Recycle is also the
launch vehicle for Runsewe’s vision of a circular economy.

“A lot of people are worried about the amount of waste we generate and the
impact it’s having on our ecosystems. The desire to conserve resources and
improve our overall quality of life were motivating factors,” the
entrepreneur says.

The journey began after a decade of working in sales and operations for
banks and telecommunications companies. Runsewe began looking for an
opportunity to take the entrepreneurial leap.

While driving past a landfill one day, she was alarmed by the suffocating
fumes coming from piles of burning tyres. Deciding to do some research, she
didn’t like what she found.

The World Bank estimates Nigeria will produce over 100 million tonnes of
waste annually by 2050. The current level is some 32 million tonnes a year.
Processing garbage safely is challenging for Nigerian authorities and there
is also widespread illegal dumping.

Old tyres pose a particular problem. They hold relatively little monetary
value once used. Scientific studies have shown that as they decompose, they
release hazardous materials into the soil and water, and into the air when
burned.

 

Runsewe spent years on research, design, raising capital, and prototyping
before Freee Recycle officially got rolling in 2020.

“No one else was doing this at that time. We had to train our staff from
scratch. And then we had to import all the technology because it was a
nightmare to fabricate them locally. Sometimes we got it right, sometimes we
didn’t, and that was money down the drain,” she says.



Discarded tyres being processed at the Freee Recycle factory in Ibadan,
Nigeria. Photo by Zaniel Dada, bird story agency

 

The ‘sweat equity’ and more than $5 million that Freee Recycle and its
partners have invested are now yielding returns. Records from the social
enterprise show that the company now employs 160 people.

Freee Recycle claims its sole facility in Ibadan’s industrial area can
handle around 150 car tyres per hour and has gone through 250,000 tyres so
far.

“Our plan is to scale up to one million tyres per annum or more, and to
achieve that we will need to set up other crushing sites around the
country,” Runsewe says.

 

Some of Freee Recycle’s best sellers are rubber tiles that sell for about
$45 per square metre. Freee Recycle also produces mats, paving bricks,
marine bumpers, kerbs, insulation rolls, and other rubber accessories.

The company’s marketing strategy includes highlighting to price-sensitive
consumers that its goods are more durable, ethically produced, support local
businesses, and solve an existing problem.

The workflow at the factory involves using specialised equipment to break
down the tyres, remove embedded objects, then mould the salvaged rubber into
various products for industrial, commercial, and residential use.

Runsewe outlines two main strategies her company uses to source its tyres:

First, the company purchases discarded tyres from registered vendors and
agents at about $0.10 per piece, creating business opportunities up the
chain. Sources such as auto repair services gain additional revenue from
selling their old tyres, while Freee Recycle’s collectors earn money by
identifying and supplying stockpiles to the company.

Second, Freee Recycle encourages organisations with fleets of vehicles to
dispose of their used tyres responsibly through an extended producer
responsibility (EPR) programme. This programme enables organisations to
divert the flow of old tyres away from landfills. Partner organisations are
issued certificates that detail the materials received, their processing,
the resulting products, and how the process contributed to reduced
emissions.



Flip-flops made from recycled tyres on display at a promotional event
organised by Freee Recylce on 27 March 2024 in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by
Zaniel Dada, bird story agency

 

“We’re trying to shift from a linear to a circular economy, so there must
be a plan for disposing of the materials that manufacturers are putting out
there when they reach the end of their product’s life cycle,” Runsewe
explains.

 

This is one of the reasons she is so excited about Freee Recycle’s latest
offering: upscaled and eco-friendly flip-flops.

“We’ve had our eye on the sustainable fashion industry from the very
beginning. While visiting Kenya in 2019, I saw Maasai warriors wearing
sandals made from waste tyres. It made a lot of sense,” Runsewe recalls.

Some of Freee Recycle’s flip-flops feature graphic designs celebrating
Nigeria’s cultural heritage.

The company has also started recycling steel, by smelting scrap metal for
repurposing into items like nails and wire.

“For me, success is doing something that I love, something that makes me
happy, but most importantly something that impacts other people’s lives
positively as well,” Runsewe says.

—Howwemadeitinafrica

 

 


 


 


 

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