Like thousands of people in northern Nigeria, Ibe was forced from his home after an insurgent attack. He and his family ended up in an overcrowded displacement camp, where 3,000 people were crammed into a space built for only 250. Urgent needs were prioritized: food, water, medicine, and schooling. Not much attention was given to the growing piles of garbage.
So, he began collecting it himself. It was not long before a few women volunteers joined him, turning a simple act of care into something bigger. Ibe soon realized that waste management was an opportunity that could transform lives. “These women had lost everything,” he says. “I wanted to make the rubbish collection effort worth their while, and something they could be proud of.”
Ibe moved to the capital Abuja in 2020, where the waste problem was even greater. Drawing on his background in chemistry and his lived experience, he transformed that small camp initiative into a full-fledged waste management company.
Level Up Recyclers now operates a sorting facility and runs eight collection trucks covering 22 routes across Abuja.
In the early days, they had no vehicles, no equipment, and no formal routes - just determination and purpose. “I was the manager, accountant, and everything else,” Ibe recalls.
Today, the thriving company has collected over 3,200 tons of plastic waste, helping to reduce environmental harm and improve public health in the city. It now employs 10 permanent staff, 52 part-time sorters, and over 600 collectors, many of whom still live in displacement camps or informal settlements. Collectors earn a living as they gather waste, creating a circular economy that generates livelihoods while rewarding environmental responsibility.
Level Up Recyclers also works closely with local governments, proving that solutions led by visionary young people can drive both social and environmental change at scale.