Earning A Living Through Used Car Tyres

Broken and damaged cars may seem to be useless but to children who use them as toys play a vital role because they are entertained and they even forget their day until they are reminded by their parents. But not only these suburb children find fun and entertainment from these used car tyres, Alex Nkhwimba a 28-year-old man from Lilongwe is earning a living in the city through the income he is getting by recycling used car tyres.

A graduate in Business Administration from Lilongwe Technical College emerged as one of the best innovators in 2018 through his skills of making ottomans from used car tyres which some people find them unusable.

“I was doing research on waste management, that’s when I discovered ottomans from used car tyres and then I introduced it as used car tyre recycling project. I was trying to figure it out how best to manage used car tyres instead
of burning and dumping then anyhow which is very harmful to the environment,” Nkhwimba said.

For some they may think that Nkhwimba ottomans production is just a waste of time and energy because there are
many carpenters who are also into the business of making good and comfortable ottomans from timber and cotton and not hard ottomans from used car tyres of Alex Nkhwimba.

But this may not be the case because from research on waste management Nkhwimba came up with a company called Nyasa Points Enterprise. The company has managed to employ many people. Many youths are able to sustain their lives from the piece work that they are doing at Nyasa Points Enterprise a company situated in Lilongwe.

“We are almost two years in this business, I would say so far business has been good just trying hard to invest in it more. As of now we are able to pay to some of our commission-based employees and also we are managing to pay bills and rentals from the ottomans,” added Nkhwimba.

Making ottomans from used car tyres has made Nyasa Points Enterprise to be the best ever registered used car tyres
recyclers in Malawi and abroad.

“We have been introduced to people in Canada who are willing to support us financially for our company to grow and
export our product”.

Collection of these tyres is a hard task for Nkhwimba and other employees as they have to travel long distances in garages around Lilongwe to buy used car tyres and sometimes they return empty handed as there is more competition from people looking for them.

“We walk long distances along all garages in Lilongwe to look for used car tyres and sometimes we do not find them because our friends from shoe making companies also need them, so it is a hard task,” said Nkhwimba.

Although the company looks promising but it is facing a lot of challenges for it to survive and reach a wide range of
customers. Capital and low customer turnover are some of the challenges that Nyasa Points Enterprise is meeting. Among other things that the company produce is baby chairs and beds and it also intends to produce more other products.

“We make a lot of goods but to find customers has always been a challenge because we are new on the market and
most people are not used to our products. We have also not reached a point whereby we can produce 100 plus ottomans as a company due to lack of capital,’ he explained.

Nkhwimba is an innovator in recycling used materials with an intention of conserving the environment through which he could earn a living; hence he needs financial support from individuals and stakeholders for them to prosper and create job opportunities for youths who are idle.