Leyla Erraoui

Moroccan environmental entrepreneur leading innovative recycling initiatives in North Africa.

Leyla Erraoui: Transforming Waste into Opportunity in Morocco

Leyla Erraoui is a Moroccan environmental engineer and founder of Wecyclers Maroc, a social enterprise revolutionizing waste management through technology and community engagement. Born in Casablanca in 1992, Erraoui’s passion for sustainability began during her studies at the Cadi Ayyad University, where she researched plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.

Wecyclers Maroc: A Circular Economy Model

In 2021, Erraoui launched Wecyclers Maroc, inspired by Nigeria’s Wecyclers initiative. The platform connects households with recyclers via a smartphone app, offering incentives like groceries or school supplies for collected plastics. By 2024, the program had diverted over 1.2 million kg of plastic from landfills in Rabat and Casablanca. Erraoui’s model integrates GPS tracking and blockchain to ensure transparency, earning praise from the UN Environment Programme.

Community Empowerment

Erraoui prioritizes job creation for marginalized groups, hiring women and youth as waste collectors and sorters. She partners with schools to educate children on recycling through interactive workshops, such as the Recycle Kids program. In 2023, she expanded services to Tunisia, demonstrating North Africa’s potential for cross-border sustainability solutions.

Innovation and Partnerships

Erraoi’s TEDxCasablanca talk highlighted her vision of a “zero-waste Maghreb.” She collaborates with NGOs like Greenpeace Mediterranean and tech firms to develop AI-powered waste-sorting systems. Her 2022 paper in Environmental Science & Technology proposed using recycled plastics for affordable housing materials.

Awards and Impact

Erraoui won the 2023 Global ChangeMaker Award from the World Economic Forum and was featured in Forbes Africa’s “30 Under 30” list. Her work has reduced marine plastic pollution along Moroccan coastlines by 25% in targeted regions, proving that scalable, community-driven solutions can combat environmental crises.