When Toluwase John Olagbile enrolled in Computer Science at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) in 2021, he brought more than academic ambition to campus. He also carried a long-standing passion for environmental sustainability—one sparked by the smoldering heaps of refuse he grew up watching burn in his rural hometown of Omu Aran, Kwara State.

“I saw people burning plastics, cartons, agricultural waste, even metals,” John recalls. “There were no proper waste systems—no dustbins, no baskets. Just fire.”

That fire, he knew, released more than smoke. It discharged toxic air pollutants, accelerating smog, acid rain, and a growing public health crisis. But John wasn’t content to watch from the sidelines. By 2024, he had launched Jhonks—an environmental initiative committed to repurposing waste into something far more valuable.

“Creating value from waste doesn’t just clean the environment,” says John, now 21. “It keeps people healthy. A dirty environment makes people sick.”

Founded on August 8, 2024, Jhonks aims to slash pollution by making recycling practical—and profitable. The company collects inorganic waste, promotes reuse, and facilitates responsible disposal. The vision is ambitious: to stem the billions of metric tons of human waste choking our ecosystems each year.

John is clear-eyed about the scope of the challenge. “Dumping heaps of refuse along roadsides and in unauthorized places is dangerous, especially for a rapidly growing population,” he says.

Jhonks confronts this crisis by turning pollution into profit. Its model allows everyday Nigerians to sell their waste—plastic bottles, scrap metal, old cartons—for cash. “It’s about economic inclusion,” John explains. “People earn money and the environment benefits.”

There’s also a public health angle. “Many plastic products, despite their usefulness—say, in nonstick cookware—contain chemicals linked to endocrine disorders,” John notes. “Eliminating that waste at the household level protects people.”

Jhonks is not a recycling center in the traditional sense. Instead, it acts as a digital bridge between waste producers and manufacturing partners. “We collect, then sell waste to manufacturers through our website and mobile app,” John says. The company, now registered with Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission, has already attracted attention from foreign manufacturers and investors intrigued by its tech-savvy, decentralized approach.

Still, scaling up isn’t easy. While Jhonks currently operates in six states, expansion is hampered by one critical bottleneck: infrastructure. “We want to reach more communities,” John says, “but limited access to adequate recycling facilities is our biggest challenge.”

The startup does more than manage waste—it creates jobs. Agents who sign up through the platform are matched with sellers and paid for their services. Jhonks also partners with local organizations and amplifies its reach through social media campaigns designed to shift public behavior.

John believes real transformation, though, requires more than grassroots activism. He wants the Nigerian government to step up.

“If the government invested in waste management—through tax incentives for recycling businesses, grants for tech innovators, or direct support for developing recycling facilities—we’d see real change,” he says. “It’s not just about the environment. It’s about public health. It’s about jobs. It’s about the future.”

In a country where waste often disappears into smoke or landfills, John Olagbile is building an alternative—one transaction, one app user, one discarded bottle at a time.