At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015, more than 150 world leaders adopted the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 17 new Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, have a more ambitious agenda, seeking to eliminate rather than reduce poverty, and include more demanding targets on health, education and gender equality. They are universal, applying to all countries and all people and aim to end poverty, hunger and inequality, take action on climate change and the environment, improve access to health and education, build strong institutions and partnerships, and more.
With this global transition from millennium development goals to the more effective and broad Sustainable development goals, we highlight how the Wecyclers model works to effectively achieve some of these goals.
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere. By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
With the Trash to cash model of Wecyclers, subscribers who make up the first and primary chain of the business are able to create value through their recyclable waste by exchanging trash for products that help aid daily living and in turn reducing poverty.
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all.
Education remains a top priority and remains the singular most important tool for sustainable development; this has made us implement the Trash for Education program where we reward subscribers with tuition, educational support and educational materials.
Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Lagos, Nigeria with a population of nearly 20 million people produces about 13,000 metric tons of waste bulk of which is left uncollected including recyclable waste. At Wecyclers we are persistently working to reduce the waste crisis in Lagos, create community and concerted efforts to improve sanitation in line with the Sustainable development Goals.
Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
In its 3 years of operations Wecyclers team have been able to service to over 7,000 households and create 52 direct jobs and several others through its network. Some of its workers have gone on to imbibe the entrepreneurship drive and in turn become job creators in other aspects. After collection of recyclable waste, Wecyclers aggregates the materials at the household level to sell to local recycling processors. Wecyclers provides a consistent supply of well-sorted, high quality recyclable materials to processors, thereby alleviating their supply constraints and indirectly creating jobs at that level.
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Vitally important in the Wecyclers operation is the need to create awareness on the need to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Through its partnerships and constant community based awareness, Wecyclers has also extended this awareness to the early learners (Children) educating them on the need to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
Partnerships build the world over. Through the partnerships we have created with government and businesses we have been able to implement our programmes and as well drive the implementation of the Sustainable development goals by our partners.