Tackling the tide of trash

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Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from Nigeria and the UK who are trying to ensure what we throw away doesn’t go to waste. Esther Fagbo is a partner at Wecyclers in Nigeria – a for-profit social enterprise that pays waste pickers and households for their recyclable rubbish in densely populated Lagos. Alongside her work at Wecyclers she has carried out projects with Fair Plastic Alliance, an NGO that supports the health and livelihood of waste workers, including a 2024 documentary Heroes of Recycling. Maxine Mayhew is chief operating officer, collections and specialist services at Biffa, one of the UK's largest waste-management companies. They work out what can be recycled and deliver to recycling centres. Maxine oversees collections and sorting of household waste for local authorities, as well as all industrial and commercial collection and waste from construction and demolitions. She also heads up the company shop group which stops goods that could be in the food chain going to landfill, so that they can instead go to those facing food poverty. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Maxine Mayhew credit Biffa. (R) Esther Fagbo credit Fotovillager/Asere Oluwatunmise Samuel.)