A woman making an impact!
What do you do when you see a pile of rubbish? Block your nose and increase your pace, right? Well, not Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, the woman under our spotlight today.
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola saw an untapped treasure where most didn’t. In a country where it’s a normal occurence to see nylons, bottles, cans by the road and in gutters, Bilikiss is one of the few changing that. She is saving the environment while empowering people at the same time!
Who is Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola?
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola is a social entrepreneur and the founder of Wecyclers. She is popularly known as the ‘Queen of Recycling and Environmental Sustainability’. She was so keen on improving our environment that she left America to pick waste in gutters in Lagos.
How Wecyclers Started
While schooling in the US, Bilikiss worked on a project that evolved into the business we now know as Wecyclers.
Wecyclers not only recycles waste but also empowers low-income families in non-urban and urban households in Lagos.
How Bilikiss Is Using Wecyclers To Empower Low Income Families
Families that sign-up for the program are offered an incentive for collecting their household waste. The interesting thing about the pick-up is the use of specially adapted bicycles to ensure those in barely accessible areas can also partake in the program.
These households receive incentives such as food items, cleaning materials, or airtime for every kilogram recycled. We love this!
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola And Wecyclers Keep Soaring
Bilikiss’ achievements through the organization from 2012 have been immeasurable. It has been estimated that over 250 jobs have collected over 3000 metric tons of recyclable material. We stan a consistent queen!
Wecyclers has been soaring since 2012, partnering with Coca Cola, Guinness and GlaxoSmithKline to assist in recycling efforts.
Back in 2017, Bilikiss stepped down as the CEO of Wecyclers when she was asked to become the Managing director of Lagos parks and gardens agency (LASPARK). Now, her brother, Olawale Adebiyi leads the team as CEO.
In 2019, Wecyclers won the King Baudouin African Development Prize worth €200,000 (N104 million) for its development work in Africa.
Next time you feel tempted to throw that plastic bottle out of your car window, remember Wecyclers. Sign up and contribute to a clean Nigeria.
#Spotlight takes you through success stories of various Africans in all spheres of life achieving amazing feats and breaking boundaries either in Africa or abroad. This edition features Bilikis Adebiyi-Abiola, the woman turning trash to cash.
