Nigeria - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

PETsPoint Recycling is a social enterprise, which leverages its propriety digital platforms to reclaim plastics and other recyclable wastes directly from households, communities, market place, event centers etc. while using incentives to drive change.

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

PETsPoint Recycling is a social enterprise, which leverages its propriety digital platforms “Junkyard” to reclaim plastics and other recyclable wastes directly from households, communities, market place, event centers etc. Junkyard makes it convenient, cost-effective and faster for users (called “citizens”) to dispose and earn from their recyclable waste. It uses its geo-location mapping and tracking to connect waste collectors/recyclers with users in real-time. PETsPoint has impacted over 25,000 people across 5 communities in Lagos and Ibadan through its advocacy and awareness campaigns on proper disposal of plastic waste and other recyclables. In addition, 24 community bins have been deployed to 10 communities in Ibadan with the support of strategic partners like Total Energies and Coca-Cola. Over 60 tons of plastics, equivalent to 2.5 million pieces of plastics, have been recovered and recycled, which would otherwise have found their way into the natural environment.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

Plastic pollution is amongst the leading sources of environmental pollution and degradation across the world, especially in Nigeria. Annually, Nigeria produces 5.96 million metric tonnes of plastic wastes, and about 80% of these are dumped in water-bodies. This poses significant risks to human and animal lives, organisms under water and the environment. Moreover, there is no centralized method of gathering and accessing recyclable waste data for use in policy discussions and formulation procedures. Stakeholders in the waste industry work in silos, which prevents the seamless flow of necessary information at the right time. Junkyard, by PETsPoint, has been designed to transform the recyclable waste value chain. Moreover, women without high-school education find it very difficult to secure jobs to fund their daily lifestyle. Through Junkyard, PETsPoint Technology aims to provide gainful employment opportunities to these women.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

Advantages of using Junkyard by PETsPoint include: 1. Connecting plastic waste collectors with aggregators and recycling companies in real-time. 2. Helps aggregators assess size, quantity and quality of collected plastic wastes through its image capture feature. 3. Reduces time, fuel, and energy wasted in moving from one location to another in search of recyclable wastes. 4. Provides employment opportunities for semi-skilled and unskilled women within its host communities. 5. Incentivizes positive behavior of waste gathering and sorting by plastic users and collectors. 6. Provides raw materials for manufacturing companies who uses plastics as raw materials.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Targeted beneficiaries of PETsPoint include: - Collectors/Sellers: are people, majorly women pickers, who gather plastic wastes from various sources. They are well-incentivized and paid on time. - Plastic Users/Citizens: are individuals/groups of people who use plastic materials through their foods, drinks, packaging materials and events. - Aggregators: refer to middlemen who purchase reclaimed plastic wastes from collectors and users. - Recycling Companies: are plastic-based ventures that use plastic as their major raw materials, including packaging companies, beverage producers, shoe manufacturers, etc.

01.05 When was your company established?

2021-09-10

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

Yes

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

3

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

1

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

Sunday Kolawole Sholanke Role: Co-Founder/CEO Skills: People Management, Business Development, Negotiations etc. Expertise: 5 years’ experience in social Development sector and Leadership https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunday-kolawole-sholanke-70aa27aa/ Zainab Oyiza Sanni Role: Communications Director Skills: Grass-root mobilization, Communication Development and Management. Expertise: 5 years’ experience in development and investigating reporting and Leadership. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainaboyizasanni Dr. Femi Idowu-Adegoke (MCIWM) Role: Technical Director Skills: Business development and project management Expertise: 18 years’ local and international experience in Environmental and Earth Resources Management and Leadership. https://www.linkedin.com/in/femiidowu-adegoke04

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/petspoint-recycling-ng

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

Other: Waste Management

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

PETsPoint provides gainful employment opportunities for women and girls with limited education and exposure by equipping them to become Collectors. These women and girls earn on a "daily pay" model, and are further compensated on the volume of plastic wastes they have been able to reclaim.

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

4

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

PETsPoint helps to substantially reduce the indiscriminate dumping of plastics (and other forms of recyclable wastes), which causes a lot of health issues for those living around the dumping grounds, such as eyesores, respiratory problems, hormonal disruptions, etc. By incentivizing users and collectors to retrieve plastic wastes, they are promptly removed from their used areas to safer locations, where aggregators and recycling companies can quickly pick them up. This approach helps to prevent the buildup and festering of harmful pathogens and microorganisms thus improving the health of those living around.

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

3

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

6

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

PETsPoint provides gainful employment for women and girls, who work as "Collectors" and Sorters”. Majority of these women lack formal education, which reduces their prospects of getting meaningful employment. However, PETsPoint helps these excluded and less-skilled women and girls to earn without the limitation of their certificate by providing them with the tools and resources to contribute meaningfully to the environment while earning from it.

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

PETsPoint works towards purifying water-bodies and ensuring proper sanitation by reducing the amount of plastic wastes that end up there. A huge portion of plastics find their way into streams, rivers, seas, and oceans, contaminating the water sources and making it unsafe for use. Through PETsPoint's activities, these non-biodegradable substances are recycled and reused, instead of ending in the water sources.

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

3

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

4

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

4

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

4

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

PETsPoint helps to reduce the possibilities of water-prone natural disasters as a result of waste recovery, recycling and reusing. These plastic wastes could block waterways and cause flooding are converted into useful raw materials. Moreover, PETsPoint's activities form a key part of the world's waste management strategies; thus, contributing to a sustainable city and planet.

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

PETsPoint main concern is to combat climate change and reduce its impact in developing countries like Nigeria. Through our incentive-based waste recovery activities, we encourage users and collectors to choose recycling, rather than burning their plastic wastes, which further depletes the ozone layer and causes climate change issues. Moreover, through our innovative platform “Junkyard”, we are reducing the carbon footprints of aggregators and recycling companies by connecting them to plastic waste location in their vicinity for quick and seamless drop-off and pickup.

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

4

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

4

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

4

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

4

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

5

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

6

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

5

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

5

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

4

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

5

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

4

06.08 Justification for my startup

Thanks to the growing concern about climate change and rapidly-fluctuating weather conditions, a sizable number of Nigerians are looking into ecofriendly strategies that can protect the environment. As a result, there is increasing willingness to trash waste items appropriately. To tap into this market, some environmental-based initiatives have been created for advocacy, waste gathering and recycling. PETsPoint Recycling is playing in the social entrepreneurship side of this environmental protection and preservation campaign. Our platform, JUNKYARD, helps climate-aware Nigerians to properly pack and earn their plastic waste and is available for download on Google Play Store. Junkyard goes more steps further than regular waste management app. It allows users and collectors to upload pictures and size of their waste so that retrieving aggregators can plan appropriately. Also, it has an Auto-Scheduler feature to plan waste pickup in advance.

06.09 Competitive Analysis

Our main competitors include - Scrapays - Soso Care - Pakam Our competitive advantages are: Integrated System – Junkyard covers different aspects of the plastic and recyclable waste value chain and allows several stakeholders to connect and transact business in one place simultaneously. This allows every player to create and capture more value. Data-driven Waste Collection – Junkyard empowers its users to make quality decisions with data. Recyclers know where the community collection centres and waste sources are located, the type of waste generated and the size of waste materials available. This helps them to maximize their resources and deploy them to areas with the highest returns. Prompt Payment of Parties – With Junkyard, citizens are paid promptly as soon as the recyclable items are picked or deposited, making us the preferred platform of use.

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

We are empowering women and girls who work with us, as collectors, to become self-employed/entrepreneurs in their own right. We provide them with comprehensive training in digital literacy, basic accounting knowledge and using necessary tools on a smartphone. These women lead our collector initiative, and could be addressed as entrepreneurs.