Waste not, want not: tyres become shoes!

Until now, used truck tyres have littered the landscape in Ghana. One woman has set out to address this situation…

Used tyres are a massive – and growing – problem. According to Goldstein Market Intelligence, over 1.6 billion new tyres are manufactured each year, while one billion waste tyres are also generated. However, in a recent report on tyre recycling, Goldstein noted that the recycling industry processes only 100 million tyres annually. “The tyre is extensively designed with several complex processes, which makes it indestructible in nature and creates difficulty in the recycling of tyres,” it highlighted.

Things are a bit different in Ghana, though. At least, we’ve come across one Ghanaian company overcoming these difficulties – by turning tyres into shoes. The company, Dignified Wear, was started by social entrepreneur Mabel Suglo.

Suglo was aware of two problems – discarded truck tyres littering her country and people with disabilities who could not find employment. “There is abundant waste that can be repurposed in the fashion industry instead of causing harm to society and the environment,” she points out. “Old tyres, for example, harbour stagnant water, providing a rich breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Alternatively, they are burnt, creating noxious air pollution. Other ‘waste’ products that could be repurposed – scrap fabrics, cotton threads, recycled glass, and plastic bottles – are mostly neglected.”

Furthermore, Suglo was concerned about the fact that people living with disabilities in Ghana are often marginalised, living in poverty because they struggle to gain employment. So, she decided to tackle both problems head-on.

Suglo grew up in a community where people with disabilities were subjected to discrimination and stigmatisation. She saw how her grandmother, a single mother who had leprosy, was able to defy the odds by farming a piece of land to provide for and educate her children and grandchildren. “People underestimated her, but my grandmother single-handedly raised her family and supported them financially,” she relates. Suglo set up Dignified Wear in her grandmother’s honour to empower marginalised people living with disabilities and prove that their disabilities are no obstacle.

Dignified Wear is a social enterprise that uses circular economy principles to turn waste into value. The company manufactures and sells shoes, handbags, traditional clothing, and accessories. It buys or collects waste tyres, as well as obtaining discarded pieces of fabric from local dressmakers.

The workers embellish their products with beads they manufacture themselves from broken glass. Inspired by the incredible achievements of her grandmother, Suglo provides training and employment for people with disabilities and rural women. The first few employees were sponsored to attend a vocational school and now act as trainers for new employees.

In addition, Dignified Wear even provides support for selected trainees to go on and set up their own businesses.

Isn’t this an incredible story? Find out more about the company here.