A plastic waste recycling demonstration centre has been commissioned at Maledjor in the Adentan Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
The project being implemented by the Centre for Local Government Advocacy (CLGA) and the Adentan Municipal Assembly with co-funding from the European Union is to improve plastic waste management in the area.
The Plastic Waste Recycling Demonstration Centre, located at Maledjor in the Adentan Municipality, will also be used to train beneficiaries on how to recycle plastic waste into useful items such as concrete blocks, bags, wall decors, and rain coats.
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.
The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Daniel Kwaku Botwe, who commissioned the facility, said it would encourage proper management of plastic waste to protect the environment and contribute to fighting 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 stated.
Dan Botwe urged the Assemblies to educate the people on waste segregation.
A representative at the Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Section of the EU, Paulina Rozycka, charged 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 added.
For her part, Deputy Executive Director of the Centre for Local Government Advocacy, Gladys Gillian Tetteh, was elated at the completion of the project.
She said the Recycle Demonstration Centre would be handed over to the Adentan Municipal Assembly after the end of the (ADWAWA) Project.
Madam Gillian Tetteh 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,” she said.