Nigeria is waking up to its massive waste problem, albeit late, but she’s thankfully doing something about it now. Not only are many Nigerians waking up to the idea of waste recycling, but there are now more waste management companies in Nigeria than have ever been in the history of the state.
Today, every Nigerian can almost always find a startup next door offering waste management services, with some even coming up with innovative ideas to reward customers for innovative waste disposal practices.
In this post, we’ll look at the best waste management companies in Nigeria, why they made our list, and how to earn from disposing of your waste in Nigeria.
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How to Make Money from Household Waste in Nigeria
When most Nigerians think about waste management, they think about paying a random company to come pick up their waste every week. While that’s the general idea, if that’s what you’ve been doing, you’re seriously missing out.
In Nigeria today, you can now earn money simply by calling someone to dispose of your household waste on your behalf. If that sounds absurd to you, stick with me as I take you through an explanation.
A significant percentage of most Nigerians’ household waste is composed of recyclables, which are materials that can be reused in the packaging or production of another product. When you recycle your recyclable waste, you’re helping a company save on the amount they’d have used to order a fresh supply of those materials.
To encourage recycling among everyday Nigerians, certain waste management companies in Nigeria now pay their customers to recycle their household waste. It’s typically not a lot of money, but earning anything from what you’d have paid to dispose of is a fair deal in anyone’s book, isn’t it?
Recyclable materials can range from plastic water bottles to soft drink bottles and metal containers—anything reusable. We’ll be including startups that pay for trash in the main compilation, but some notable examples are WeCyclers and RecyclePoints.
Best Waste Management Companies in Nigeria
There are a ton of waste management companies in Nigeria, and frankly, you don’t even want to know all of them. Here are the 10 best waste management companies in Nigeria we think are worth knowing for their excellence;
1. eTrash2Cash
Based mostly in the northernmost part of Nigeria, eTrash2Cash describes itself as an innovative banking solution that lets you deposit trash and withdraw cash. For the average Nigerian, that’s a no-brainer idea, but it seems withdrawing cash takes a bit more than depositing ‘trash.’
eTrash2Cash operates a network of Trash Banks situated in local communities where customers can deposit their recyclable trash and receive cash in return. Not only is this idea aimed at helping people of low-income communities develop a habit of recycling their waste, but it also encourages them to switch to products that use recyclable packaging.
Interestingly, eTrash2Cash seems to walk its talk boldly by accepting both cash and trash donations from supporters. With partnerships from top companies like Microsoft, the Mandela Washington Fellowship, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, it’s clear that the guys at eTrash2Cash are operating an innovative platform that should rank among the best waste management companies in Nigeria.
2. RecyclePoints
RecyclePoints is one of the pioneers of the idea of rewarding household waste recyclers with points they can exchange for cash and other valuables. As the name implies, the company doesn’t manage all kinds of waste, they’re more into the collection and exchange of recyclables with valuables.
The company collects a wide variety of recyclable materials, including pure water sachets, brown cartons, old newspapers, and glass bottles, among other items. When a customer submits recyclables, they get points that accumulate until it’s enough to exchange for cash and other valuables.
While this initiative promotes the habits of recycling and helps Nigerians make a bit more money, it more importantly keeps waste off Nigerian streets, consequently making RecyclePoints one of the best waste management companies in Nigeria.
3. The Initiates PLC
The Initiates PLC (TIP) is one of the most important waste management companies in Nigeria, as it’s the company in this category listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Not only can you dispose of your waste with the company at the moment, but you can also buy shares in the company to own part of your waste management solution.
Interestingly, TIP is based in Port Harcourt, making its services limited to areas around Rivers State in Nigeria. However, the company operates an impressive collection of services that makes it a standout company, despite being restricted to a specific market.
In addition to waste management and incineration, TIP also offers decontamination, e-waste recycling, industrial cleaning, consultancy, and thermal desorption services. I believe we can all agree that not listing the only publicly listed waste company among the country’s best waste management companies in Nigeria would be a big blunder, so here you go.
4. WM Group
WM Group is a US-based waste management company conveniently named Waste Management Group, or WM Group for short. It expanded to Nigeria, mostly Abuja, and its environs a little over two decades ago and has penetrated the waste management industry in the country significantly.
While it’s not as active as it was when it first broke into Nigeria, it’s still doing quite well for a company with operations in almost every country in the world. It won the Nigerian Environmental Company of the Year award in 2005 and the Best Waste Management System in West Africa award in 2006 and 2007.
5. Pakam Waste Management Technology
Pakam is a tech-enabled waste management technology that helps you ensure your waste is either disposed of or recycled properly for a fee. The company operates many programs, including its Earn-As-You-Waste and Pay-As-You-Waste programs.
The Earn-As-You-Waste program rewards you for recycling your recyclables, while the Pay-As-You-Waste program is for individuals looking to dispose of non-recyclable waste. You can access all of the company’s products through its app for both Android and iOS, making it one of the best tech-enabled waste management companies in Nigeria.
6. WasteBazaar Ltd
WasteBazaar is one of the first companies to introduce a tech-centered approach to waste management in Nigeria. Through its Wasteify app, users can request waste pickup at any location and have one of the company’s garbage collection companies appear at the spot to dispose of the waste in no time for a minimal fee.
Like some other waste management companies in Nigeria, WasteBazaar also collects recyclables and rewards customers for them with points they can exchange with valuables. Interestingly, if you’ve accumulated enough points from recyclables, you can pay the company to pick up your waste with the points you earned from recycling.
You can also use the points from your recyclable waste to pay your utility bills if household items and paying for waste disposal isn’t good enough for you. It’s not the most popular company in Nigeria, but once you’ve discovered its network of 500 recycling collectors across 25 major Nigerian cities, it’s hard to go back.
7. Trashcoin
Trashcoins aims to solve the plastic waste problem in Nigeria by giving recyclable plastics value and encouraging everyday Nigerians to start recycling rather than discarding their plastics. As its name suggests, Trashcoin rewards users with ‘coins’ based on the amount of plastics they recycle and eventually exchanges those coins with cash and other valuables when it’s sufficient.
The company’s ambition is noble: developing a system that recycles more plastics than it dumps in landfills, with at least 80% of plastics being recycled. It’s pretty ambitious, but not impossible, and based on the work Trashcoin is already doing to achieve that goal, it very well deserves to be among the best waste management companies in Nigeria.
8. Environ-Waste
Environ-Waste isn’t only about waste management; it offers a collection of services, and waste management is only one of them. Apart from managing and disposing of waste, the company engages in bulb recycling, tank and silo cleaning, environmental management, and electronic waste management, among others.
Unlike most other waste management companies in Nigeria, Environ-Waste doesn’t market to household customers. Rather, it targets companies with significant proportions of industrial waste and helps them get rid of the waste for a fee. Unless you’re here for an industrial solution, you should quickly scroll past this recommendation.
9. Government Agencies
It would be unfair to the efforts of several state governments in Nigeria not to include them among the best waste management companies in Nigeria. While they don’t run conventional companies, there are many government waste management agencies competing excellently with some of the best waste management companies in Nigeria.
LAWMA, for instance, was established to solve the waste problem before the 1977 edition of the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ’77), and it has stuck with the Lagos State Government ever since. Not only has it been rebranded multiple times to ensure it’s performing true to its initial mandate, but it’s also one of the best state waste management outfits in Nigeria.
The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) isn’t as capable as LAWMA, but it’s also doing a solid job of keeping waste off the streets of the Federal Capital Territory. There are many others spread across Nigeria’s numerous states that deserve an honorable mention for their hard work.
Conclusion
Waste management companies in Nigeria are evolving quickly, and now you don’t have to wait patiently for the horn of the garbage collector’s truck anymore. With tech-enabled waste management companies, you can simply request for your waste to be picked up and have someone show up at your door to do it, for a little fee.
This post takes you through the best companies in Nigeria offering that service, and some that will pay you for your recyclable waste.
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