In Accra, is growing the idea of the development of waste plants and a material recovery facility. Ghana is one of the African countries that chose to increase recycling activities and the development of its facilities.

The Greater Accra Metropolitan Area currently operates with only 1 engineered landfill, situated 37 kilometres from Accra’s city centre and functioning under a remaining lifespan of 2 years of waste receivable. There is an actual need to develop waste plants and material recovery facilities.

Accra waste plants: the need for development

Faced with over 3,000 metric tonnes of waste produced daily, the capacity of the Kpone landfill is quickly being exceeded and the AMA has recognized the urgent need for alternative solutions for managing waste disposal.

Furthermore, private waste collectors are not incentivized to make the long multiple trips to the landfill daily, leaving waste uncollected or dumped illegally. The city has identified the need for waste transfer stations to reduce the turnaround time (currently 4 hours) for these service providers.

The city also recognizes the increasing need for waste separation and material recovery to accommodate raw material production for select industries to alleviate the declining capacity at the Kpone landfill and reducing overall waste.

To support these objectives, the city envisions the placement of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) alongside the waste transfer stations.

Service providers who collect household waste would dispose of it at the local transfer station and MRF for a fee, and facility operators would be responsible for the costs and actions of final disposal or recycling.

It is important to note that the composition of waste in the metropolitan area is over 65% organic, offering significant waste conversion opportunities, particularly for composting.

Investment/Partnership – Opportunity: Public-private partnerships

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly seeks two types of partnerships to advance work on this project.

First, public-private partnerships (PPPs) with Waste Transfer Site and Material Recovery Facility (MRF) developers, ranging from Build Operate and Transfer agreements to an equity investment in the form of land.

Secondly, the city seeks collaborations for conducting analysis on markets for materials recovered via the MRF.