E-Cover

Yaye Souadou Fall has been selected as part of UNICEF Innovation30: Young Innovators Shaping the Future.

Countries of Solution Deployment: Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea

Innovation Accelerator: African Leadership Academy / Anzisha Prize, South Africa

Dakar, the bustling capital of Senegal, is memorable for its stunning sights and sounds but also for the overwhelming smell of burning tires. The city faces a waste tire challenge. Every year, countless discarded tires end up in landfills and are burned in the open air, releasing toxic chemicals and tiny particles responsible for respiratory illnesses that particularly affect children. Young innovator Yaye Souadou Fall, 28, saw the problem and envisioned a circular solution.    

E-Cover, Yaye’s pioneering tire recycling company, transforms discarded tires into strips used by cement factories as fuel. Factories reduce their carbon emissions by burning tires in high temperatures and re-injecting their fumes into the burning oven. E-Cover has recycled 812 tons of tires to date, contributing to the annual mitigation of 3,569 tons of CO2.  

“I don't have a scientific background, so I tried to boil the tires and even fry them. I almost burned my house,” Yaye says, reminiscing about the early exploratory days when grinding the hard tires was her way to produce rubber tiles and shoe soles.   

Today, E-Cover has expanded to include crumb rubber for artificial football turfs and tire strips. "Adapting and evolving is crucial. Our initial focus was on rubber tiles, but the environment's needs and market demand guided us towards a broader vision," Yaye explains.