Bukola Adebayo

Founder of Wecyclers, revolutionizing waste management and empowering communities in Lagos, Nigeria

About Bukola Adebayo

Bukola Adebayo is a Nigerian entrepreneur and environmental advocate who founded Wecyclers in 2012. Her innovative social enterprise addresses the dual challenges of urban waste management and economic inequality in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city. By creating a pay-as-you-recycle system, Wecyclers incentivizes households to recycle plastic, metal, and glass waste in exchange for rewards like mobile phone credit, cookware, and school supplies. This model has diverted over 12 million kilograms of waste from landfills and provided sustainable income streams for thousands of residents.

Impact & Innovations

• Established the first closed-loop recycling system in West Africa
• Partnered with multinational corporations like Unilever and Coca-Cola for plastic recycling initiatives
• Created over 150 green jobs in underserved communities

Her work has been featured in global media outlets including BBC World News and The Guardian. Adebayo was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2019 and received the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2021. Learn more about Wecyclers' impact at their official website.