Joshua is a circular economy entrepreneur whose online scrap marketplace recycled three tons of waste in its first six months alone.
Joshua’s business, BuyScrap, launched in Nigeria in 2024, offering scrap collection and recycling services. The Youth Sustainable Enterprise Challenge programme provided Joshua, 29, with the tips and tools he needed to turn his idea into a business within weeks of completing the programme, and to rapidly scale up. He is already an employer.
‘My initiative, BuyScrap, tackles Nigeria’s waste collection and improper disposal issues,’ Joshua explains. ‘The programme’s knowledge and skills enabled me to establish my start up within a month and build a passionate team driving commercialization.’
Making connections
Based in the capital Lagos, Joshua’s online platform enables users to upload photographs of the items they want to sell, from old fridges to computer monitors, and to schedule collection. Joshua and his team then pick up and pay for the scrap, before passing the items or component parts on to recycling companies or other local buyers.
As well as providing a prompt and convenient waste collection service on demand, Joshua’s business also works to champion recycling generally, through both its social media channels and in-person community contacts.
The initiative brings quadruple benefits, incentivising recycling for households and businesses, cleaning up the community, reusing waste otherwise bound for landfill and generating a sustainable income for Joshua and his workers.
‘We provide economic opportunities through job creation, value to the community through timely waste collection, and contribute to a cleaner environment,’ Joshua explains. ‘Our initiative has removed three tons of waste from the environment and educated over 400 people on waste collection and recycling.’
Igniting ideas
With population growth far outstripping job creation in Nigeria, many young people need to work for themselves. Targeting budding entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35, the Youth Sustainable Enterprise Challenge programme aims to build young people’s enterprise skills, equipping them to become job creators, rather than job seekers.
We piloted the programme, supported by the British Council, in 2023, and scaled it up in 2024 to run through five local partners in five states. Joshua’s programme was delivered by the Nigeria-based social innovation company Nerdz Factory, which shares our commitment to unlocking potential.
With support from mentors, the programme covers topics such as business ideation and planning, market opportunities and sustainability principles. Participants draw on this learning to develop and hone their own business ideas, before pitching them to a panel of expert judges. Standout ideas, such as Joshua’s – which won the environmental award at the pitch competition – receive start up grants.
From waste to wealth
‘The programme’s facilitators and support were invaluable, helping me develop as an entrepreneur,’ Joshua recalls, highlighting particular improvements in his accounting, business modelling, marketing and leadership skills. Together with his prize money, these skills have enabled him to turn a good idea into a good business, bringing a dramatic increase in profits as he has scaled up.
Joshua’s initiative makes it quick, easy and financially beneficial for households and businesses to recycle, and his upcoming mobile app will further boost customer convenience and reach. Ultimately, he aims to expand his online platform nationwide – and even internationally, harnessing tech solutions to connect sellers and buyers.
Committed to sharing his knowledge and passion for sustainable entrepreneurship, Joshua now regularly appears on local radio programmes and events to champion green enterprise and innovation, speaking about his own business journey ‘from waste to wealth.’