Waste Bank

Flashpoint's Waste Bank is a private owned enterprise based in Nigeria.

• A filthy sight awaits any individual peering into the gutters of any city of any West African country. The gutters are filled with empty plastic bottles, nylon water sachets and other waste materials discarded by humans. This obstructs the free flow of water leading to erosion, and endangers marine life. This challenge of poor waste management is not only African, but global. 
•  The solution we are working on provides efficient waste management through adequate waste disposal, collection and recycling.
• Through social engagements, we encourage individuals and groups to sort their wastes into appropriate categories for easy collection (degradable and nondegradable). We also pay them for their plastic wastes based on quantity. This encourages adequate attention to proper waste disposal by people. With this initiative, we hope to reduce plastic waste pollution in west Africa. 

Environmental pollution due to plastic waste is endemic in several cities across Nigeria, but we're currently focused on reducing the level of pollution in Kwara state where huge amount of plastic wastes has led to a degrading ecosystem.

Major streets, drainage systems and water bodies across the state is filled with plastic wastes which have not been efficiently attended to. And this has led to a number of health and environmental issues. 

The process of engaging individuals and groups on proper waste disposal and paying them in return also serves as a means of reducing the level of unemployment in the city. This also leads to developing a proper waste management culture in upcoming generation as a results of participating and benefiting from the initiative. With this, we will be building a world of environmentally conscious people.

1. Firstly, people are sensitized on the profitability and environmental benefits of proper plastic waste disposal and management.
2. People will be properly educated on sorting and categorizing wastes. 
3. Waste bins and other waste collection containers will be provided to the people (sellers in this scenario) which will be used to sort and dispose their wastes.
4. Collection centers or door to door collections of the sorted wastes will be initialized and monies paid to the sellers.
5. Collected plastic wastes will then be shipped to the appropriate recycler, i.e., the end users for an amount based on the quantity of the plastic waste collection.
6. The cycle is then reinitiated and more plastic wastes are collected to be recycled.
7. Future applications include removal of wastes from sewers, drainages, rivers and other water bodies to rid marine life of the toxicity of these plastic wastes.
8. A mobile and web application is being developed to provide a collection service to the sellers of the plastic wastes where they can sell their wastes online.

Flashpoint's waste bank is solving a global problem locally, hence in this context it serves the local population. 

1. Sellers(plastic waste collectors): this category of people benefit from this initiative in basically two ways.
   • Monetary gain: By selling the plastic wastes, they are paid a certain amount for their collection based on quantity and quality.
   • Environmental gain: They contribute their individual quota in keeping the environment safe and clean.  
2. Middle Men(Logistics): this category of people will be responsible for transporting plastic wastes from the sellers to the buyers. They also benefit in two ways, 
   • Monetary gain: By moving the plastic wastes, they are paid a certain amount for their collection based on quantity and quality.
   • Environmental gain: They contribute their individual quota in keeping the environment safe and clean.
3. Buyers(recyclers): this category of people are responsible for processing and recycling the plastic wastes into useful products. They cut cost on processing raw materials and also contribute their quota to a safe and clean environment.

The problem of Plastic waste management being a global problem aligns perfectly with the theme of the challenge "restoration of local ecosystems" as it brings together several contributory key players and proposes a solution which is directly related to their individual inputs.

•  People (general consumers of plastic products) can contribute to the solution by being alert to proper waste disposal and generating extra income.
• Logistics operatives are also responsible for proper movement of the wastes to the designated end users (recyclers).
• Recyclers take the plastic wastes and reuse, thereby, reducing cost of production and processing of crude materials. 

Waste Bank is still at the concept stage due to a number of factors.

• Capital: the project requires considerable amount of capital due to it's wide range of application and reach. This will cover purchase of waste containers, logistics, wages of workers, maintenance of web and android apps, etc.
•  Operational Structure: The web and mobile applications are still in the development phase and a more accurate operational structure is yet to be established.
• Awareness: the sellers and consumers of this initiative are yet to be properly informed on the benefit and need for a proper waste management system. This would be done through targeted advertisements both online and offline.
• Culture: the attitude of people to waste disposal is generally bad. That is a big constraint to the advancement of this initiative. We can encourage the participation of people through monetary incentives.

Our solution brings in the use of mobile application for selling waste disposal.

It also provide specialized waste collection containers. It also encourages and educate people on proper waste disposal.

The solution currently serves 0 people. In one year thousand and in five years millions.

We currently have 6 active members.

We are made up of 6 part-time workers.

We need the financial and business support.