Implementation of a Recycling station in Accra, Ghana
In cooperation with the local waste management company Tidyup Ghana Ltd. we have reopened a waste transfer station and expanded it as an EcoPontes collection hub for recyclable materials. On-site training is an essential building block for the commitment to collect plastic waste that would otherwise remain unattended in the environment.
So far, 45 female waste collectors have already been trained on how to achieve the required material qualities. They collect PET bottles, LDPE foils and PP/HDPE waste, which they sell at the recycling centre at a fair price. There, the material is sorted, treated according to customer specifications and sold to one of several local buyers. To document that the material was collected in compliance with social standards, the tracking app Cleanhub is used, where the collectors are registered and with which the collected material can be traced back to the individual collector. In this way, our activites in Ghana are not only committed to the environment, but also to fair working conditions.
The project, which serves to help build a circular economy in Ghana, also aims to bring together the formal and informal sectors for a long-term business relationship.After the successful start, other collection cooperatives in the surrounding of the station are now being formed and connected to the collection system.
The project is supported by the Special Initiative on Training and Employment of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH and the association “Circular Economy 4 Africa“.