Ruptly
"Local startup Robaloto started using sensor-equipped bins and mobile apps to turn street pollution into solar-powered school bags for children in a city where less than one per cent of plastic is recycled. Footage filmed on Thursday shows waste piling up in the streets, as the Robaloto team distributes smart bins and installs QR codes on homes. The video also shows plastic collection for further recycling, where it is turned into solar-powered school bags. The initiative, founded by entrepreneur Aymane Gbadamassi, aims to remove 400 tonnes of plastic to combat pollution and provide solar power for students facing chronic electricity shortages. "When I was little […] Every Friday evening, students would burn the waste they had produced during the week," says Gbadamassi. "As I grew up, I saw plastic waste on every street corner, and no one was outraged." The system relies on 'smart' bins equipped with fill-level and weight sensors that track data in real-time. Households use a mobile app and QR codes installed on their doors to notify the company when their waste is ready for collection. Dodzi Gbedzanyi, a member of the Robaloto recovery team, explained that the app creates transparency for the users. "It allows households to know how many kilos we collected from them and the price they will receive in the end," he said. The model's core is a circular economy: plastic revenue is redistributed to households, and waste is repurposed into solar-powered school bags. "What is the point of giving children bags if, at night, they have no light to study?" said Gbadamassi. "That's how the idea came about to create bags that incorporate photovoltaic films." Environmental expert Efua Eve Manu Kuadjovi-Ayedue emphasised that the project solves two crises at once: waste management and energy poverty. "For more impact, we need to scale up - reach many more cities," she added. Togo, like many West African nations, struggles with rapid urbanisation and limited waste management infrastructure. Most plastic is either burned - releasing toxic fumes - or clogs drainage systems, leading to flooding and disease."
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