Rita Idehai is a social innovator who works at the nexus of environment, technology and the economy. She is the founder of Ecobarter, an innovative company that is building waste collection systems, enabling thousands of Nigerian use wastes as a currency and transforming wastes into new products. She built Nigeria’s first reverse vending machine. Rita is the immediate past president of the Recyclers Association of Nigeria, a network of over 200 businesses. Rita is helping Nigerians making their cities livable and supporting vulnerable people build back their lives using wastes as a resource. Her work has been instrumental in addressing climate adaptation, social inclusion, and sustainable eco-system development.