How UDUS Alumnus is Converting Plastic Waste to Wealth

For 26-year-old Amidu Muhammad, a graduate of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), the journey to becoming a "wastepreneur" began with a near-fatal accident. After falling six feet into a drainage ditch camouflaged by heaps of plastic waste, Muhammad turned his trauma into a mission to solve Nigeria’s mounting environmental crisis.

Today, his company, PlastiBuilds Creative Solutions Limited, is at the forefront of the circular economy, using technology to upcycle plastic debris into high-value functional products.

Founded in 2018 and formally incorporated in October 2023, PlastiBuilds was born out of Muhammad's childhood observations in Bariga, Lagos, where poor waste management and poverty intersected. Witnessing how clogged canals led to perennial flooding, he posed a radical question: "Since we can't live with the waste, why can't we use it for something else?"

Drawing from his degree in Education and Extension Services from UDUS, Muhammad has structured his firm to address three critical pillars:

Tech-Driven Transformation: Converting plastic waste into durable footwear, furniture, and interior décor items.

Waste Economy Expansion: Creating wealth and jobs in megacities including Abuja, Kano, Sokoto, and Lagos.

Public Health Advocacy: Reducing the prevalence of birth defects and weakened immune systems linked to living in pollutant-heavy environments.

PlastiBuilds operates as a social venture that aligns with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). By streamlining waste sorting and collection, the firm ensures compliance with the Environmental Permanence Index, making the recycling industry more attractive to private investors.