The decades it takes for the decomposition of tyres and the long time dream of being part of the Go-Green revolution amidst global warming were all motivations to Ifedolapo Runsewe entrepreneurship journey to recycling industry.
Ifedolapo Runsewe is the founder of Freetown Waste Management Recycle Limited company. A company whose sole aim is to clear the city of waste in a systematic and sustainable manner. After spending six years of studying the pros and cons of tyre recycling, Runsewe collaborated with the best hands to start up the company which has been doing beautifully well both economically and environmentally.
It has a rich a workforce of about 300 Nigerians and more counting.
The well-structured organisation is traceable to the rich experience obtained by Runsewe in the corporate world. She worked at one of the biggest telecommunications companies in Africa and one of the largest bank industries in the country. With her experience, she built the capacity and learnt the basics of structuring a company.
The massive impact Freetown Waste company has on the environment is mind-blowing. Considering Ibadan metropolis with about six million occupants. Runsewe mentioned that from statistics, about 360,000 citizens have cars. If their damaged tyres are improperly disposed of, with an average of four to five people in a house, resulting 1.5million citizens will be exposed to hazards of the environment. But if properly disposed to Freetown Waste Company, there would be a cleaner and fresher environment for all.
Waste derived from tyres is turned into rubber crumbs and converted into finished goods like tiles, mats, door stoppers, speed bumps. Unlike other recycling industries who simply clean up the waste product only to convert it back to its initial state or a very similar state without any meaningful value additions.
Despite the impactful nature of tyre recycling in Nigerian, Freetown Waste has not been left without challenges. One out of the numerous challenges is that of the unstable power supply. An industry as such requires a constant power supply to enable its smooth operation. And the cost incurred to secure a personalised power supply is quite harmful to the health of the company. Hence that has been a major headache.
Runsewe has plans on extending the company to Lagos and Ogun state to
solve issues on tyre pollution in South Western states.
