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https://ecopath.page/pdf/Ecopath-pitch-deck.pdf
The problem
Millions of ink and toner cartridges are imported into Nigeria every year for use in education, healthcare, finance and other sectors. Since no cartridges are manufactured in Nigeria, the quality of those available for purchase is determined by the foreign exchange conditions. The value of naira (NGN) against the US dollar (USD) has fallen fourfold since 2008, pushing the importers to purchase the cheapest options - often these are low quality cartridges from China that contain inks and toners hazardous to human health.
Two options are available on the market - products from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and compatible products. OEM products are of high quality and produce high yields, but they are expensive. Compatible products, usually from China, are more affordable, but their quality is inconsistent, their yields are lower and they sometimes include toxic components. In both cases, once the cartridges are empty, they are disposed of together with the rest of unsorted waste, causing a detrimental impact on the environment. Due to high calorific value of cartridges they are often open burnt (thus substituting expensive kerosene) to make fire for cooking and to encourage burning of other waste, thus contributing to air pollution and exposing humans to inhalation of toxic substances.
Schools in Nigeria as high impact printing establishment contend with huge burdens of high cost of ink cartridges, elevating their cost of operations, hence higher tuition fees. The open burning or land filling of used ink cartridges in schools is a major cause of plastic pollution on campuses and their host communities.
Our solution
Our solution is to create a circular economy for ink cartridges in Nigeria, especially for schools. Our key activities are:
- Retrieving used cartridges through buy back schemes and other incentives.
- Remanufacturing used cartridges using imported machinery and components. Used cartridges are cleaned, refilled with ink, refitted with a new ink sensor and repackaged to be sold under our brand name.
- Selling cartridges through our regional sales managers covering all 36 states in Nigeria. Our products do not add to the waste management burden on our clients, as we offer incentives and buy back schemes to retrieve used cartridges for remanufacturing.
Advantages our innovation brings are as follows:
- Lowest price as our production costs are low. We use recovered empty ink cartridges (that would otherwise be land filled or open burnt), import all components in bulk and outsource packaging production to a local company. Schools can buy high-quality remanufactured ink cartridges at lower prices, reducing cost of school's printing and making education more affordable.
- Best quality as we use reusable OEM components and imported components from high quality manufacturers from Japan - a country that is believed to produce the best quality raw materials and products. All imports from Japan in Nigeria are of best quality because “back door” imports are not possible - all products imported from Japan go through pre-shipment verification and certification by Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and their partners, such as Cotecna and SGS.
- Non-toxic inks , as we chose our suppliers with care. We will import ink from Wako ltd, our partners in Japan, who use soya oil in manufacturing instead of petrochemicals. Their ink samples are analysed in specialised laboratories to test for toxicity; a laboratory-issued certificate verifying the safety of the product is attached to every shipment. We will make copies of these certificates available to our customers, to compete with other compatible products that are usually not tested for toxicity to avoid extra costs.
- Zero waste to landfill as we recover our cartridges from our customers to either remanufacture or recycle them with our local partner Wecyclers. According to our partners in Japan, the same ink cartridge can be remanufactured 5 times before the quality starts to decline. Our packaging will be plastic free. Most importantly, our innovation will contribute to significantly reducing open burning of empty cartridges and the associated detrimental effect on human health.
Additionally, we will be making a difference by:
- Supporting local charities and educational institutions. Every month we will donate 5% of our profit. We want to support tertiary educational institutions to strengthen their research capacity and fund students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and Diabetic Association of Nigeria, as diabetes rates are surging in Nigeria and many cannot afford the treatment they need.
Barrier to better outcomes
Recovery of used duplicating ink cartridges are obviously a huge task considering the mindset of end-users to releasing their empties. The erroneous beliefs that re-manufactured/reuse products of any kind are inferior quality is widespread. Though our intervention is first of it's kind in Nigeria, End-using institutions would need to be adequately engaged and educated on benefits of circular economy.
Already we are collaborating with the "Committees of Vice-chancellors of universities in Nigeria, CVC" to drive this education among educational institutions in Nigeria. The feedback so far has been highly positive and impressive.
Be our hero, help make this happen! (€10,200 goal)
The minimum numbers of importable drums of ink as major raw-material is 10 units. With €707 you will help us import from our partner in Japan, 1 drum of ink capable of remanufacturing 180 ink cartridges with all the needed accessories. For 10 units minimum importable requirement for drums of inks (including the accessories), it is 10*€707 = €7,070
Other donations goes to €3130 required for freight, custom duties, workspace and all other things needed to kick-start our project.
Ink filling machine was already pre-paid (€5,360), making our total fund requirement €10,200 (€7,070+€3130). Every donation is a step towards reaching our goal of €10,200 and every donation goes a very long way
Our gift for your kindness
For all donations over €102 (1% of total required to begin our
operations), we will send to you quarterly sustainability reports
outlining the environmental impact achieved by Ecopath.
For all donations over €707 (enough for 1 drum of ink), we will
inscribe your short environment themed quote and name on packaging of
all ink cartridges produced within one month. Be the first to donate
over €707 to feature on the very first cartridges we produce!
For all donations over €2040 (20% of total required to begin our
operations), we will donate 1% of our profit to a charity of your
choice (in Nigeria) in your name for the first 5 years of Ecopath's operations.
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