Rita Idehai is a geoscientist and pioneering social innovator. She works at the intersection of sustainable waste management, social inclusion, and technology. She is the founder of Ecobarter, a company that is leading Nigeria’s transition to a circular economy by building systems to collect, tokenize, and transform waste into new products. Ecobarter built sub-Saharan Africa's first reverse vending machine, an ATM for plastics and cans.
Through ecobarter, Rita also supports clusters of local community women and youth to build back their lives using waste as a resource.
Rita is an industry leader who sits as the president of the Recyclers Association of Nigeria and was, at one time, the general manager of the Edo State Waste Management Board. She has won several local and international awards in testament to her talent, expertise, and innovations.