Matilda Taiwo was at the forefront of plastics recycling long before it became fashionable to worry about global warming, even on the international scene. From little, almost impossible beginnings, she has moved from daily struggling with machinery, paperwork and insecurity, to being contracted by the state government to train hundreds of youths and move them from waste to wealth.

She shares her incredible journey with WO.

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Why recycling? Where did you get the strength and passion to do this?

Before going into recycling, l was into event decorations. However, I have been in the manufacturing industry. l worked for Flour Mills of Nigeria, Apapa and Berger Paints Nig PLC .

 l left paid employment in 1994 to set up my personal business and in 2007, l started collecting plastic waste and nylon. It was a serious challenge as friends and families were mocking me, saying that I was picking dustbin. l did not allow it to disturb me. Already, l had developed passion for it.

But where did the idea come from?

 l saw what the Chinese and Indians were doing with waste plastics. The Chinese and Indians saw a lot of opportunities in Nigeria that Nigerians cannot see. What motivated me was what a Chinese guy told me. “You Nigerians, in your gutter there is money, you cannot see it. Every part of Nigeria is money, you cannot see it. Every day you Nigerians walk on money yet you cannot see it.“

Those words changed my life because l realised that the Chinese guy was saying the truth. Those words motivated me to go into waste recycling. Of course, there is waste recovery and waste recycling. What a lot of people are doing is waste recovery, while we are into waste recycling. It is the most difficult aspect of the recycling business.

The whole world is talking about global warming. Is that a major concern to you? How does plastic waste affect our lives? Is it not a secondary concern in a country where people are hungry?

It is a major concern because government alone cannot do it. There is need for the private sector, especially the micro, small, medium recyclers to come into the business. Unfortunately, government is not there for us, even banks were not helping to finance the project because they never understood what waste recycling is all about. Now that the whole world is talking about it, it dawned on government to make waste plastics an income generation tool.

The government should build more sustainable industrial development clusters in all the local governments in Nigeria to create employment so that people will not be hungry.   

I have seen a video of a couple of young men who were recycling plastics to make diesel. Is it possible or cheaper than imported fuels?

It is a fact that we can produce diesel, petrol from waste plastics. It is a fact that these foreigners will never allow Africa to succeed. We can even produce interlocking/paving stones from plastics. The international community will not support Nigeria because of their own selfish interest. ln fact, it is profitable, at least Nigerians can use it to power their small light manufacturing factories. The international community will never assist us so let us do it by ourselves. That is the truth 

If the international community is so bent on reducing the carbon footprint, why are they not investing in it like they say?

The Lagos State governor has approved our proposal to train 1,000 youths and women at our waste recycling hub.

Vanguard News