Ten million used car tires accumulated in Nigerian landfills every year, posing a significant risk to the environment and the health of citizens. Freetown Waste Management Recycle decided to recycle them into rubber flooring.

In four years, the facility, located in Ibadan, Oyo State, has lined the floors of several homes, warehouses, amusement parks, playgrounds and restaurants in Lagos, Nigeria's financial capital.

The industrial plant has a production capacity of 1,000 tons per year for both the crushing line and the production line, which produces about 400 m² of rubber floor tiles and 3,300 m² of rubber mats per day.

"More than 100,000 tires have been recycled into the company's final products. Our goal is to recycle 15 million tires a year into useful reusable products for residential, commercial and industrial purposes, with a clear vision to become the leading recycled rubber producer in Nigeria," says Freetown Waste CEO Ifedolapo Runseve.

The Freetown Waste tire recycling plant recently received an environmental impact assessment certificate from the Oyo State Department of Environment and Water Resources, which will allow the company to be certified for production by the Federal Department of Trade and Investment in the near future.

The startup, already present in Rwanda and Equatorial Guinea, is considering expanding into other African countries such as the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.

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