According to the World Bank’s study of 17 coastal West African countries in 2018, a total amount of 6.9 million tons of plastic waste was generated in the region with Nigeria alone accounting for 4.7 million tons per year (see here). Of this, 20% was produced within 30 km of the coast, with most of it ending up in the ocean. This ranks the country among the top 20 contributors to marine pollution globally. Nigeria is grappling with limited public awareness and understanding of the negative impacts of plastic waste on health and the environment; limited infrastructure to effectively collect and dispose of plastic waste, and inadequate recycling facilities to appropriately service the waste sector in Nigeria. 

Based in Ibadan, Nigeria, PLANET 3R is a social enterprise dedicated to converting textile and plastic wastes into eco-friendly products using the “3R: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” approach. The company seeks to save our planet Earth by weaving the 3R approach into innovative and valuable products. The company collects, sorts, cleans, and shreds plastic and textile waste to turn them into finished products. These finished products include fashion wear, home decor, shopping bags, school bags and accessories. PLANET 3R was founded in 2020 and currently employs a staff of 21 people, 90% of which are women. In addition, the company has: 

• Over 20 tons of textile and plastic waste recycled per month and transformed into affordable eco-friendly products for low and middle-income earners. 
• Empowered unemployed youth through training on effective ways to earn income from recycling plastic and textile waste. 
• 90% of c-suite positions held by women. 

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) values the global creative market at USD 985 billion by 2023 (see here) and the African creative industry is worth over USD 58.4 billion (see here). With over 500 million Africans in diaspora and more than 30 million tourists, PLANET 3R is targeting 2% of the total market share in Africa. The company’s objective is to scale up to 50 recycling hubs in Nigeria and across Africa countries. Achieving this will enable the company to meet the goal of converting over 250 tons of textile and plastic wastes monthly into affordable eco-friendly products for low and middle-income earners, and ensure a circular economy. PLANET 3R targets to empower 50,000 women in different community across Nigeria with 21st century skills to transform their world. To reach these goals, the company seeks to raise USD 3 million in equity and partnerships with companies that manufacture products with plastic bags and with international organizations and other large multinationals. 

PLANET 3R is a finalist of the EU-UNDP’s Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) in Nigeria, in the infrastructure sector. The GSIV takes the Nigeria SDG Investor Map one step further by identifying through a highly competitive process enterprises in Nigeria that have developed at-scale products and services that contribute to the SDGs while achieving commercial success and are committed to embed impact considerations into decision-making. By putting the spotlight on and supporting these ventures, UNDP aims to bring forward evidence of the existence of pipelines of investable ventures that can advance the transition to SDG-aligned investments in Nigeria and more broadly, in Africa. 

Learn more and get in touch with PLANET 3R: www.planet3r.com