The concept of circularity operates on various spheres of life and business. Today’s guest, Fela Buyi, prioritises a number of these with his social enterprise and trendy shoe business in Africa. 

He founded Salubata, a company based in Nigeria that makes modular shoes from plastic waste with a mission to invent lifestyle technologies that help people and the planet.

You’ll hear how this inspiring entrepreneur brings together his interest in environmental toxicology, business, and design, to create aesthetically pleasing shoes that are good for the environment and benefit people. He believes it's important to create sustainable products that can compete with their traditional alternatives, and that good design is at the heart of being an effective player in the circular economy.

Salubata uses plastic waste in underserved communities, and works to empower and train women living there to develop a skillset that makes them viable employees for Salubata.

 In response to the harrowing fact that the average metropolitan person produces 5kg of plastic waste per day, Fela has designed a modular shoe with detachable uppers with different designs and colors. 70% of the energy required to produce a shoe goes into the sole, and detachable uppers save money, space, and make for far easier cleaning. He tells us why standardization is a bigger problem than lack of funding across Africa, and that building the skill set of the people is more important than investing in better machinery.

Next, he introduces us to the closed loop system where nothing escapes the environment, and each item is recycled, and he lets us in on how he sees his impact growing: by scaling what he is already doing.

We hope you tune in for another inspiring episode today!