The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has stated that the government plans to scale up electronic waste (e-waste) management across the country to protect the environment, safeguard public health and create sustainable jobs.
He said the growing use of electronic devices in communities across the country had made the long-term management of e-waste critical to Ghana’s environmental sustainability efforts.
“Today, everybody in every village is trying to use a computer and have access to electronic systems.
The question is how we dispose of the waste,” the minister said.
He warned that without proper disposal systems, electronic waste could end up polluting drains, rivers and the sea, with severe consequences for ecosystems and human health.
“If we do not create the avenues for proper disposal, these wastes will end up in the sea, and the consequences are clear,” he added.
Mr Buah, who is also the acting Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), was speaking during an inspection tour of e-waste recycling and related facilities at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) in Accra yesterday.
As part of the tour, the minister visited the National E-Waste Handover Centre, designated lands for atomic energy initiatives, and the Foundry Projects within the GAEC enclave.
Commitment
Mr Buah said the government was committed to building capacity to manage e-waste not just in the short term, but far into the future, with plans to establish treatment centres in every region and, ultimately, in every district.
“Managing e-waste must be critical for us going forward.
Ultimately, every district assembly must be able to train people to manage e-waste properly,” he said.
“We are not only doing this to protect our environment and meet sustainability goals, but also to create jobs,” the minister stated, adding that the government would continue to prioritise innovative ways of managing electronic waste.
Prevention
The Team Lead for the Ministry of Environment’s E-Waste Project, Dr Vincent Kyere, explained that the project was designed to prevent environmentally harmful practices such as burning electronic cables to recover metals.
“Many scrap dealers collect these materials but end up setting fire to them because they don’t have alternatives. This causes serious pollution,” he said.
Dr Kyere said the project introduced an incentive-based system to encourage scrap dealers to bring e-waste to designated centres instead of burning it.
He described the initiative as urban mining, stressing that valuable metals were being recovered from discarded equipment rather than through traditional mining.
Income
Dr Kyere disclosed that more than 850 scrap dealers had registered under the programme and were now earning better incomes, while private recyclers had begun investing in machinery due to the steady availability of materials.
“We have collection centres in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and other locations.
Materials are weighed, quality-checked and paid for before being tendered to recyclers for processing,” he said.
Progress
The Managing Director of Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL), Gordon Tanga, spoke on the progress of a Foundry Project being developed at the GAEC site, saying the project, which began in 2019, was intended to support local manufacturing by producing metal castings for agriculture, road construction and the shipping industry.
He said delays in the payment of outstanding invoices submitted in late 2024 had affected the pace of work, expressing hope that the issues would be resolved to enable the first phase of the project to become operational.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
