In May 2021, GSMA launched the GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The fund was open to start-ups and early-stage companies providing essential urban utility services who leverage digital innovations to make these services more accessible, reliable, sustainable and affordable. Successful organisations were awarded between £100,000 and £250,000 in grant funding and were provided with technical assistance. Pitches were received from 335 organisations in 43 countries across Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, and from these, a cohort of nine organisations were selected. This blog series summarises the key learnings from the grant period.
Freetown Waste Transformers is an integrated waste-to-energy company operating in Freetown, Sierra Leone. They have successfully deployed a waste-to-energy pilot using proprietary technology (waste transformer) to convert organic waste into electricity, heat and fertiliser. On average, each installed transformer unit will generate up to 150 kVA of electricity and double that amount in heat. With this amount of electricity and thermal heat, MSMEs can potentially reduce their power bill by more than 35% and minimise their carbon footprint. The solution also provides more reliable energy than the grid, which is central to supporting businesses.
Sierra Leone has one of the lowest energy access rates globally, with 76% of the population having no access to electricity. Limited energy access and an unreliable grid have led to mass use of diesel generators, especially among MSMEs. The waste management infrastructure in Freetown is also beset with inefficient collection processes. Only about 30% of the waste generated is safely disposed. The rest ends up in illegal dumpsites, on the streets and even flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Freetown Waste Transformers (FWT) aims to address these twin problems by providing a unique solution to waste disposal and enabling access to clean and affordable energy.
Purpose of the grant and key outcomes
GSMA supported FWT to digitalise the waste collection process by implementing a GPS mobile mapping app to improve the efficiency of existing waste coordination. To scale this solution, more organic waste will be required to feed FWT’s anaerobic biodigesters, highlighting the need to better coordinate the collection of organic waste. The app will be used by waste collectors, in partnership with the Freetown City Council, to manage inputs from waste collection partners and provide live data.
The key grant outcomes cover FWT’s scaling, the progress on app development, impact on households and the waste diverted from landfills, and the partnerships that are enabling the success of FWT.
- By the close of the grant, FWT had designed and launched the DortiBox app, and onboarded over 350 users to their platform. They also trained and built the capacity of 322 waste collectors.
- Their services benefited 46,552 Freetown residents either through timely household waste collections, increased revenue for collectors or electricity provision from their Aberdeen Women’s Centre waste-to-energy site.
- They diverted 11.85 tonnes of organic waste from landfills and generated 12,205 kWh of clean energy through their waste-to-energy solution.
- FWT has partnered with Africell Sierra Leone and Orange Money Sierra Leone to integrate their APIs with the DortiBox App. This enables users to transact using mobile money. Africell further deepened its collaboration with FWT by being one of the offtakes of the energy produced by the waste transformer units.
Key learnings from the grant
- Strategic partnerships with key players are crucial for scaling. FWT has partnered with the Freetown City Council to introduce digital waste management systems as the city plans to increase waste collection and safe disposal to 60%. The city will leverage the DortiBox app, mandating all households to sign up for automatic collections and make payments through the app. FWT has also been working with the Waste Collectors Management Association, which brings together waste collectors and has become a voice for its members, and has already trained and onboarded them onto the app.
- There is an opportunity to track waste along the value chain. FWT’s circular approach to waste management presents the opportunity for households to track how much of their organic waste is collected, converted to electricity and fertiliser, and how much their efforts contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions. This data can incentivise more households to adopt DortiBox as a response to climate change and aid individuals to reduce their own carbon footprint.
- The app has created household awareness on waste collection and best practices. The majority of DortiBox users noted that the app helped them sort household waste and understand how organic waste can be reused to produce energy as well as how recycling and good waste management impacts health and the environment.
- For maximum uptake of digital solutions, the usage gap needs to be reduced. The uptake of the Dortibox app was lower than expected and this can be attributed to factors such as device ownership and the low penetration of mobile money in Freetown. Most waste collectors did not have smartphones and the number of women waste collectors with mobile devices was even lower. Device and data affordability remain great barriers to mobile internet adoption and use and these continue to disproportionately impact the underserved.
Looking forward
To deepen its position in the waste management sector, FWT has partnered with the Freetown Municipality as a digital partner on sanitation. As part of the municipality’s efforts to digitalise urban services for its residents, they have incorporated the DortiBox app into their operations.
Freetown Waste Transformers has also been selected as part of the GSMA Innovation Fund for Accelerated Growth which will support select organisations with an additional boost on their path to scale, allowing them to accelerate their sustainability. The grant will allow FWT to enhance the functionality and robustness of their app, enabling more user accessibility and inclusivity. The new features such as USSD code for users with analog devices and voice assistance for non-literate users will make it easier for more households to access the application and request essential waste collection services across the city. The updated version of the app will be robust enough to accommodate more than 200,000 households in the municipality. Coupled with this new strategic partnership with the municipality, FWT’s vision of digitalising waste collection in Freetown will be realised and potentially expanded nationally.
A new GSMA report on circular economy solutions
The GSMA recently published ‘Making Circularity Work: How digital innovation enables circular economy approaches in waste management’. This report takes stock of how and where digital innovation supports circular economy models in waste management. It presents insights from FWT’s experience alongside others from the recently completed GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services, as well as insights from other start-ups from across the ecosystem. While global recycling and reuse rates remain grimly low, and waste volume is outstripping population growth by a factor of two, the report highlights some key positive trends supporting circularity. There is growing momentum behind national and global policy change governing waste. In many cases, these changes are market-making for those working towards circular economy approaches. Demand for secondary materials in manufacturing is also rising, particularly those from e-waste in response to the limited global supply of critical inputs. That the waste sector is such a significant source of emissions presents the opportunity for mitigation, and for access to climate finance. Lastly, start-ups working in the waste sector are increasingly being viewed favourably by investors, with series raises in the tens of millions being increasingly common.