Freee Recycle Limited, an integrated waste recycling and manufacturing company, has commemorated its fifth anniversary of advancing sustainability, innovation, and circular economy growth in the country with art exhibition.
With the theme:, “From Waste to Heritage: Celebrating Five Years of Impact,” the event featured the unveiling of an art exhibition showcasing works from its maiden Art Residency Programme — a five-week creative residency themed “Echoes of Reclamation: Rebuilding Heritage from Waste.”
The residency trained artists from tertiary institutions across Nigeria to re-imagine waste materials and create cultural value from discarded materials representing a key step in FREEE Recycle’s mission to transform Nigeria’s waste landscape by merging artistic creativity with sustainable, circular solutions.
The exhibition, which featured sculptures and mixed-media installations crafted from recycled tyre rubber, also served a philanthropic purpose. All proceeds from the exhibition will go toward providing school sandals to children in underserved communities through the FREEE Impact Foundation — extending the residency’s message of transformation from art spaces to classrooms across Nigeria.
It Managing Director, Ifedolapo Runsewe, stated: “At FREEE, our journey began five years ago with a simple belief — that waste could be transformed into value and creativity could drive sustainability.
Recognizing that recycling alone wasn’t enough, we developed our Integrated Recycling and Manufacturing (IRM) model, a zero-waste system that turns every part of a tyre into something useful. Since then, we’ve recycled over 250,000 tyres, produced 660 metric tonnes of crumb rubber, and cut carbon emissions by more than 8,000 tonnes. Beyond these milestones, we’ve created jobs, built partnerships, and inspired change — extending our impact through initiatives like the FREEE Art Residency, where artists reimagine waste as a tool for expression and social transformation. As we look torward five years, we remain driven by one commitment to continue transforming waste and inspiring futures. The next phase of FREEE’s journey will deepen our investments in innovation, community impact, and creative engagement — building a bridge between sustainability and culture that defines a new legacy for Africa’.
Policy adviser, Economic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Officer, Netherlands Consulate in Lagos, Opeyemi Oriniowo noted:“What we see here today is more than recycling — it is innovation, creativity, and purpose coming together. The amazing work that FREEE Recycling is doing, turning waste tyres into new products, shows what’s possible when vision meets collaboration. Earlier this year, we visited the facility in Ibadan as part of a broader scoping mission to understand what entrepreneurs across Nigeria are doing in this space. I can say confidently that FREEE has become a model — or as I like to joke, a bit of a poster child — for what’s possible when sustainability is treated not as a project but as a mindset. The real challenge before us is how we replicate this impact, how we create more of this — more FREEE Recycles across Nigeria, each creating jobs, driving change, and shaping the future.”
One of the participating artists, shared: Gift Akwajie said,“It was a truly wonderful experience,” she said. “Sustainability and climate change are causes that are very close to my heart, and being part of this residency allowed me to explore them through art in a meaningful way. I’m deeply grateful to the faculty and to Mrs. Ifedolapo for giving us this opportunity — I would genuinely do it all over again.”
