Mathias schluep program director of the world resources forum and lead coordinator of the international sri programme. Ghanas sanitation policies and strategies the national environmental sanitation policy ghanas national environmental sanitation policy esp dates from 1999. Introduction electronic waste is the term used to describe old end of life eol electronic appliances that have. Wastetoenergy options in municipal solid waste management giz. This was shown, for example, in two studies from ghana and dhaka city, bangladesh, in which the. The system has also not delivered the optimum economic and environmental result for.
Proceedings of the 28th enviroinfo 2014 conference, oldenburg, germany september 1012, 2014 electronic waste risk assessment and management in ghana d. Government of ghana ministry of local government and rural. Agbogbloshie is a nickname of a commercial district on the korle lagoon of the odaw river, near the center of accra, ghanas capital city. Waste management has become one of the biggest challenges confronting developing countries, including ghana. Ghana has been in the news for its informal treatment of e waste and related adverse effects on humans and the environment since a decade. As ghana sets out to increase its renewable energy. Despite the environmental and health implications of plastic waste, plastic.
In addition, there are separate guidelines developed for the disposal of biomedical waste and for landfill management and development. Proper solid waste management swm has become one critical environmental challenge faced by cities in ghana due to its externalities. In 2012 the planet generated about 49 million tonnes of electronic waste and by 2017 this is expected to rise to 65 million tonnes per year. Working conditions and environmental exposures among. Kiln dried lumber contributed to the highest production of wood waste with a share of 34%. Legal and institutional requirements in ghana 7 levy will be fed into an electronic waste recycling fund that is aimed to provide finance for the management of electronic waste and reduce the adverse impact of electronic waste on human health and the environment. Making a living from toxic electronic waste in ghana. Solid waste collection in accra universiteit van amsterdam. Indeed, a visit to some cities and towns in ghana revealed aspects of the waste. Results show that rate of waste generation in ghana.
During the workshop and noting that the presence of top stakeholders in the sector is a strong testimonial for the commitment to advance ewaste management in. In our spring newsletter, lauren ornelas, our campaign director, interviewed anane on the ewaste being shipped to ghana under the guise of charity. Tackling ewaste management in ghana world resources forum. Assessing the challenges affecting solid waste management. The drinking water supply and sanitation sector in ghana faces a number of challenges, including very limited access to sanitation, intermittent supply, high water losses and low water pressure. Working conditions and environmental exposures among electronic waste workers in ghana. Accra generates 3,000 metric tonnes of waste in a day. Ghana has been cited as the country with the biggest ewaste dumping site in the world. Ghana offers us a glimpse at some of the economic and environmental consequences of ewaste. Ewaste, or electronic waste, is a broad term referring to a range of electronics, including refrigerators, microwaves, and televisions. The latest place where we have discovered high tech toxic trash causing horrendous pollution is in ghana. In ghana, the global problem of ewaste has local consequences. To manage the tons of waste products in the country especially in the capital city, a new recycling plant is to be set up on the accratema motorway.
Agbogbloshie, a former fertile wetland in ghana, is now one of the worlds largest ewaste dumping site. Annual global ewaste management gem network meeting, july 15. Assessing the challenges affecting solid waste management system in the kumasi metropolis abstract in every aspect of human life, several unwanted materials are generated and these materials are discarded simply because they are considered waste. Practice, pattern and challenges of solid waste management. Reliable national data on waste generation and composition that will inform effective planning on waste management in ghana is absent. Increased population growth and rapid urbanisation have resulted in increased generation of volumes of waste in our cities. The overall goal of this new policy is to develop a clear and nationally accepted vision of environmental sanitation as an essential social service and a major determinant for improving health and quality of life in ghana. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices 159 an emerging dynamic in the collection of e waste is the increasing spatial extent that collectors have to explore. The comparative analysis of solid waste management between rural and urban ghana is largely lacking. E waste companies in ghana including accra, kumasi, sekonditakoradi, and more.
The burning truth behind an ewaste dump in africa ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in ghana will take more than curbing western waste. This study investigated the solid waste situation and the organisation of solid waste management in both urban and rural settings from the perspective of households. The question, he argues, is whether secondhand electronics are being exported to ghana as ewaste or to supply a demand for cheap electronics that can help the country bridge the digital divide. Coupled with weak institutional capacity, and lack of resources, both human and capital, the city authorities face. Concepts for sustainable solid waste management and circular. Undp, on behalf of the government of ghana, submitted to the 62nd meeting a proposal for a. Making a living from toxic electronic waste in ghana bbc.
To determine the practice, pattern and challenges of solid waste management in onitsha metropolis. The orange flesh of a papaya is like an oval gash in the landscape at agbogbloshie, ghanas vast dumping site for electronic waste, where everything is. Ghanas five largest cities accra, kumasi, sekonditakoradi, tamale and tema account for about 19% of the total population and their residents generate an estimated 3,200 tonnes of solid waste per day. In almost all cases, ewaste is not a local product, but originates from developed countries, says labunska, the harbor of accra receives 600 to 1,000 containers every month, adds ananes. Municipal solid waste management in the accra metropolitan. Mike anane interview silicon valley toxics coalition. Electronic waste or ewaste is the disposal of electronic goods such as cell phones, mp3 players, televisions, and computers terada, 2012. Environmental contamination due to solid waste mismanagement is a. The only scientifically produced report on ewaste in ghana published in 2011 found that 171,000 tons of ewaste reaches the countrys informal recycling sector, adding that the amount of material that reaches the. Municipal solid waste management in the accra metropolitan area, ghana article pdf available in the environmentalist 233. Composition of solid waste in ghana it is estimated that 60% of solid waste in ghana are organic with plastics, rubbers and papers accounting for 8% moisture content range from 39% to 62% calorific value of solid waste in ghana range from 14mjkg in low income communities to. Notwithstanding the efforts by city authorities to remediate the problem, it still remains a monumental challenge and an elusive enterprise.
Millennium cities initiative the university of ghana, legon. Pdf electronic waste management in ghana issues and. Occupational waste handling practices in periurban communities in prampram, ghana. In ghana, per capita generation of plastic waste stands at 0. Municipal solid wastes provide a clean source of fuel which can be used for power and steam generation. This is evidenced from the uncollected garbage at public spaces and indiscriminate dumping at zones with fatal flaws.
And that is because, ewaste from almost every part of the world finds its way into the country, potentially poisoning its land and underground water sources with a cocktail of heavy metal chemicals such as cadmium, lead, barium, mercury, arsenic and polybromynated flame retardants. Ghana is the first country in africa to launch official guidelines for sustainable e waste recycling management, said mr. Furniture part is the least contributor to wood waste in the timber industry in ghana with a share of 8%. Ne cessity, it is said, is the mother of invention. Government policy and initiatives on ewaste in ghana by. Alake and ighalo 2012 defined ewaste as waste electrical and electronic equipment weee that are nonbiodegradable.
The national environmental sanitation policy nesp is another important guideline for managing waste. The waste management system so far in ghana has not properly integrated other solutions as collection, treatment, and supply for reuse, reprocessing and final disposal. Other incomes from recovered materials can in general be ne. Despite efforts at making municipal solid waste management mswm effective, one key challenge faced by the state and local environmental protection agencies in nigeria has been inconsistencies in the pattern of solid waste management by households. Tema has been transformed rapidly from a small fishing village into an industrial nerve center of ghanas economy. Waste management in tema ghana introduction tema is a coastal city, situated about 25km east of accra, it has a land area of 368. Photographer kevin mcelvaney documents a former wetland in ghana which is home to the worlds largest ewaste dumping site, and where most. Ghanaian journalist, mike anane, began corresponding with svtc in late 2008 about ewaste dumping in accra. Due to uncontrolled urbanisation, large quantities of waste are generated daily in accra, and this exerts much pressure on an over strained solid waste management system. Pilot demonstration project on ods waste management and disposal. Pdf waste management has become a major challenge confronting. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices 153 however, larry summers, a former economist of the world bank in 1991, reportedly justifies the economic sense of the exportation of e waste to developing countries.
To assist the ama in filling this information gap, the millennium cities initiative mci, in conjunction with the university of ghana and zoomlion ghana limited. The use of municipal solid waste to generate electricity is becoming a widely accepted concept. The urban solid waste management conundrum in ghana. Our analysis of samples taken from two electronic waste ewaste scrap yards in ghana has revealed severe contamination with hazardous chemicals. Earlier this month, abc tv visited the agbogbloshie dumpsite in ghana with mr. Making a living from toxic electronic waste in ghana in 2012 the planet generated about 49 million tonnes of electronic waste and by 2017 this is expected to rise to 65 million tonnes per year. Ghana confronted with environmental challenges graphic.
It was prepared by the mlgrd in consultation with other stakeholders. Ghana is still confronted with serious and complex environmental challenges, despite the various interventions by the environmental protection agency epa. Ghanas way towards sustainable ewaste recycling first. Waste management options in ghana, future strategy imani. Waste landfill company is an integrated waste management company that provides transfer, disposal and recycling services. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices.
Comparative analysis of households solid waste management. Ghana to set up ewaste recycling plant ghana business news. Waste management, as a householdrelated activity, is also frequently seen as a typical female task. The policy covers all aspects of environmental health, including excreta disposal and solid waste management. With a team of young and skilled professionals, waste landfills provides solutions downstream of the waste management value chain. Since the late 1990s, industrial countries have been sending their ewaste here. A ghanaian company, golden falcons limited and dutch company hoier resources aps would be the operators and managers of the ultra modern plant that is worth millions of dollars. Waste management is an essential public service which potentially can have serious impacts on public health and environmental quality in any human settlement. Pdf public private partnership in solid waste management. In september, 2010, a revised environmental sanitation policy of ghana was produced. Public private partnership in solid waste management, a case study of zoomlion ghana limited in the wa municipality.
Various international development cooperation projects have been running. The ama waste management department is in need of further such data, especially uptodate data from lowincome communities. The wood waste generated by the 5 wood products were further compared for 3 different functional units m 3, kg or. Since 1994, the sector has been gradually reformed through the creation of an autonomous regulatory agency, introduction of private sector participation, decentralization of the rural supply to 8. About 500 container loads of electronic waste arrive every month, often disguised. Near the slum called old fadama, the agbogbloshie site became known as a destination for externally generated automobile and electronic scrap collected from mostly the western world. The nexus becomes more complex particularly at agbogbloshie, the hub of ewaste activities in ghana, where there is nothing like waste. To help obtain this data on a regional basis, selected households in each region were recruited to obtain data on rate of waste generation, physical composition of waste, sorting and separation efficiency and per capita of waste. There is little hard evidence to measure how much ewaste is dumped either globally or at agbogbloshie. Municipal solid waste management in accra, ghana, is at present delivered in an unsustainable manner. Wood waste minimization in the timber sector of ghana. The study employed crosssectional survey covering both rural and urban districts in the ashanti and greater accra regions of ghana.