As part of efforts to improve plastic waste management in the Adentan Municipality, the Assembly, with support from the European Union (EU) has set up a plastic waste recycling facility to train the youth and persons with disability (PWDs) in plastic recycling.
The Plastic Waste Recycling Demonstration Centre, located at Maledjor in the Adentan Municipality, will be used to train beneficiaries on how to recycle plastic waste into useful items such as concrete blocks, bags, wall decors, and rain coats.
Mr Daniel Kwaku Botwe, Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, inaugurated the facility at a ceremony at Maledjor on Thursday, September 29, 2022.
The establishment of the Centre is part of the Adentan Waste to Wages (ADWAWA) Project, a four-year project being implemented by the Adentan Municipal Assembly, and the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA), with funding from the EU.
The (ADWAWA) Project seeks to recycle at least 50 per cent of plastic waste generated in the Adentan Municipality and provide employment and income opportunities to the youth and PWDs.
Mr Botwe expressed delight about the establishment of the Centre, saying it would encourage proper management of plastic waste to protect the environment and contribute to combatting climate change.
He said the Ministry would pay a closer look at the operation of the facility, and urged other Assemblies to explore similar innovative ways of managing waste in their respective jurisdictions.
“If we had such projects in many of our electoral areas, you can imagine how that can help reduce plastic waste,” he said, and urged the Assemblies to educate the people on waste segregation.
Data from the Adentan Municipal Assembly’s Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit indicate that the Adentan Municipality generates about 340,000 metric tons of waste annually, out of which only 23, 328mt, representing 78 per cent are collected.
The data also showed that only two per cent of single-use plastic bottles were recycled.
Ms Paulina Rozycka, a representative at the Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Section of the EU, urged the Assembly to use the facility sustainably to achieve the expected objectives in the long term.
“I hope this project will help change our attitude towards plastic waste and its job creation potential would be realised,” she said.
Madam Gladys Gillian Tetteh, Deputy Executive Director, GLGA, said the Recycle Demonstration Centre would be handed over to the Adentan Municipal Assembly after the end of the (ADWAWA) Project.
She said GLGA was developing indicators for communities to assess and rank electoral areas as part of the Project.
“The provision of community garbage bins at vantage points for segregation of waste for recycling is about to kick-off after several education and sensitisation campaigns, ” Madam Tetteh added.
