Last week, I had the chance to meet and interview representatives of two amazing initiatives in the Netherlands through Emergi: Tommaso Troiani, the CEO and founder of Byewaste– a free pick-up service that is eliminating waste by offering users a simple solution for tidier homes and a cleaner future by creating a door-to-door service for reuse and recycling of unwanted items such as textiles, electronics, toys and books– and Jehudi van de Brug, Commercial Director ad interim at E-Bakkie– a last mile delivery company that transports goods using electric bicycles and tuk-tuks. 

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Meeting Tommaso

With my mobile phone in my left hand, displaying Google Maps, and a small blue umbrella in my right hand protecting me from a light rain shower, I navigated my way through the Hague. It was 3 degrees Celcius as I walked to Apollo 14 where I was given a warm welcome by Tommaso. Apollo 14 is the hub of impact makers of The Hague. This was not the first time I was meeting Tommaso; we first met during the ImpactCity - Startupbootcamp Accelerator programme that both Emergi and Byewaste participated in last year. But unlike the program that took place mostly online, I was meeting Tommaso in person today.

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With a broad smile and adapted Dutch effectiveness, he quickly offered me a seat and a much needed hot cup of coffee. “We started Byewaste when we realized how difficult the traditional system is for people. The designated recycle waste bins are far away from most homes, which means that people have to segregate their waste and then transport it to the bins and that’s hectic and time consuming.” Tommaso, an Industrial Engineer who worked at a waste management company along with his friend and now co-founder Francisco Rivera explained. “With Byewaste we developed a system that has made it easy for the users. All they have to do is sort the waste, stick a sticker on it, use an app to select a date, and we collect it from their doors. People like Byewaste a lot.” To discover whether there was a need for a service like Byewaste, Tommaso and his team did a survey by knocking on 500 doors to collect e-waste. In July 2020 they did another successful pilot study, covering 3000 households in the city of Vlaardingen. Based on the results of the study, they decided to officially launch their service in Capelle aan den IJssel. Using cargo e-bikes that ​​save 19.7 kg of items from incineration and/or ending up as landfill, and avoid 38 kg of CO2 emissions, Byewaste’s service is also now available in Rotterdam and Krimpen aan den IJssel, and is free of charge. “In the future we want to add other services. People may be able to resell their phones, or repair their jackets… people maye even be able to buy second hand electronics, or sell shampoo. The idea is to incorporate more partners and expand the business model,” Tommaso added.

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Byewaste works closely with the municipalities it operates in and considers them its biggest customers. After an agreement to work together is made, the municipalities announce to their citizens that they are now working with Byewaste in their newsletter. This relationship gives Byewaste a fertile environment to grow because it creates awareness amongst the citizens and helps them to trust Byewaste and its service. I asked Tommaso what it is like working with the municipality and what tips he can give me to be effective in forming partnerships with government and its agencies in Liberia. He responded: “It’s not easy. The procedures to form agreements with the government can be very slow and tiring, but sometimes it is worth it because when the government is your friend, they are your friend for life. My advice to you is to not wait for the government. Do what you can do on your own and keep going. The government, after they see that you have made some progress and have gained traction, will join you.”

“It’s not easy. The procedures to form agreements with the government can be very slow and tiring, but sometimes it is worth it because when the government is your friend, they are your friend for life..."

When asked what he would do differently with his current knowledge, Tommasso responded “I would probably go faster… I would take more risks. I will make mistakes… maybe even a lot more because now I will be more confident and that is risky.” Without wasting the opportunity, I then asked Tommaso “What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs like me?” He said “Do it because you have to do it, do it out of your conviction… and be aware of the challenges. Use all your tools and drive and ambition, but do it without emotions. Because if something is supposed to happen, somehow it will always happen. There are two ways to achieve a goal: you could commit and punish yourself because somebody told you that a lot of effort gives you results; or you could try to envision the goal, put love and positive energy into it, work hard but try to remain calm, and you will still achieve the goal.”

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And just like that, it was already time for Tommaso to attend his next appointment, and also time for me to get back out into the cold to head home, have dinner and prepare for my next appointment scheduled for the following morning.

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Meeting Jehudi

Friday morning’s weather was not any better than the day before... Although it was not snowing, the wind seemed even colder. But that was not a problem for me; I was taking the train to Amsterdam. I stared out the window observing the landscape, the cities I was passing and their buildings. In Amsterdam, I found my way to the Food Center where I met my colleague Jeroen Thunnisen at the gates waiting for me, and together we walked to the headquarters of E-Bakkie. 

After we had been served a nice cup of tea, we started with the purpose of the meeting. Jehudi, who has a Master of Science in Communication, started his career as a co-owner of a bicycle brand called Kronan. After five years, Jehudi then moved into media before moving on to sales and later business development. “E-bakkie is not really a startup, but after five years of operating, in our sixth year (last year) we experienced an enormous growth with a new investor and big ambitions. We opened hubs in Rotterdam and The Hague.. and we grew about fifteen times or so and now this year, we need to continue that growth and that is my job.”

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Using cargo bikes, tuk-tuks, and vans, E-Bakkie saves more than 460500 kg of CO2 every day by driving electrically, and their delivery people press a doorbell in Amsterdam more than 800 times a day to make customers happy with their parcels. “A big part of our growth last year was because we started doing parcels,” Jehudi explained.

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Jehudi has worked with several startups including Urban Arrow, Dockr and etc. Because of this, I asked him if he considers himself an entrepreneur and what working with startups is like for him. He responded “Yes I do. I am not an employee and I don’t want to be an employee. For me it is important to have that entrepreneurial feeling. And working with startups is chaotic… it’s a whole different mentality. But in the end when the company grows, it is rewarding and really nice. In this company everybody does everything. Now we are trying to organize the company so that we can take the next step which for us is to open two more hubs in the Netherlands this year, and then move to Brussels and Germany. We are ambitious and we are focusing on metropolitan areas.”

"...working with startups is chaotic… it’s a whole different mentality. But in the end when the company grows, it is rewarding and really nice."

My advice to young entrepreneurs is: “Be ahead of the game. In this business we are changing things… We have cargo e-bikes, we have electric tuk-tuks… we are ambassadors. This is a movement and we are a part of it, so share your story and be a leader.” Jehudi encouraged us about the use of social media as we came to a close.

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It was a weekend full of lessons for me. I got to meet and converse with two interesting people with amazing initiatives. The next step for me is putting into practice everything I learned.

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Elvis T. Thomas is visiting the Netherlands as a part of YEP (Young Expert’s Programme) Return Training in the Netherlands for batch number 25.

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