The New Juaben South Municipal Assembly in Eastern Region has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) to promote sustainable solid waste management and environmental protection within the municipality.
The partnership forms part of broader efforts to improve waste recovery systems, reduce the volume of waste sent to final disposal sites, and advance climate-friendly environmental practices across the area.
The initiative centers on waste recovery through waste seggregation, sorting of solid waste materials to separate reusable and recyclable components for use by interested stakeholders and industries.
The project is also expected to support the production of materials for concrete and other construction-related purposes through the recovery of suitable waste products.
The entire project will create jobs in the waste recovery value chain as GAYO intends to link the municipality to waste reclying industries to buy the reclyables .
Speaking at the ceremony, The zero waste Director of Green Africa Youth Organization , Mr. Jacob Johnson Adabrah said the project is not only an environmental intervention but also a job creation initiative targeted at young people and women within the waste sector.
“The point of the Zero Waste Project is not just to work on waste both as an environmental and climate imperative but also to create green sustainable jobs for young people and women working within the sector. And so in our estimation from the work that we’ve done in several municipalities here in Ghana, Uganda and Botswana, for every five tonnes of waste there’s eight jobs that are created. We essentially need eight people to be able to work on five tonnes of waste,” he explained.
He also encouraged individuals to establish buy-back centres where recyclable waste can be collected and sold to larger recycling companies.
“You can even, as a person, if you have a parcel of land or a piece of land, set up a buy-back centre, ask people to trade in their waste and then you can now, as an aggregator, build that waste and sell to bigger recycling companies,” he noted.
The Municipal Chief Executive for New Juaben South, Ransford Owusu Boakye, explained that the project would introduce waste segregation practices to ensure different forms of waste are separated instead of being mixed together.
“We’re going to have a situation where they will not bulk all waste together. You have some sacks for maybe liquid waste, solid waste, plastics and other things. It will be separated,” he explained.
Hon. Boakye noted that the Assembly spends huge amounts regularly to manage overflowing landfill sites and expressed confidence that the Zero Waste Project would significantly reduce the pressure on disposal facilities.
“Our landfill site is always full and almost every week we have to spend about 80,000 to 200,000 to clear the place. Now with this, I’m sure it is going to reduce the burden that we have there,” he added.
The Assembly described the collaboration as a strategic step towards developing a sustainable waste management plan capable of saving costs and improving operational efficiency in waste disposal and environmental management.
The partnership is expected to strengthen local efforts aimed at building cleaner communities and promoting environmentally responsible waste management practices within the New Juaben South Municipality.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com
