The ultramodern Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP), situated in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region, will be ready for use by the end of the year.
It is part of the IRECOP projects being established across the country by the Jospong Group of Companies, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, under the Sanitation Levy Fund. According to the Head of Medical Waste, Ing. Senam Tenge, the plant was 85 percent complete.
He revealed this to the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) which paid a visit to the plant being constructed at Akrofu Agorve near Ho.
Leading journalists to tour the facility, Ing. Tenge noted that the plant would work in such a way that all waste brought there would be converted into reusable products.
He noted that organic waste would be converted into fertilisers for onward distribution to farmers, while inorganic waste such as plastics, metals and leathers would be converted into other re-usables. “Everything brought here will be converted into reusable goods,” he said.
He noted that, currently, waste materials were collected and transported to the final disposal site without any value addition.
“With this plant in place, what we will be doing is that when the waste is generated from the various sites, be the market place, school, the waste is brought to this site, sorted, recycled and used to produce other items.”
Talking about the number of jobs it would create for the youth of Ho and the Volta Region, Mr. Tenge said the plant was expected to create direct employment for 100 persons, while indirect job creation was estimated to be 500.
“So you realise that this facility here, established in Ho, is really going to change the employment status of the youth in this region,” Mr. Tenge observed.
Speaking about safety issues, Ing. Tenge said, based on international practices, plants of this nature were supposed to be established at the outskirt of a town, in order to free the community from any harmful emissions, and that was what informed the establishment of the plant at the outskirt of Akrofu Agorve.
“At the international level, waste processing sites must be located at the outskirts of town and city because of the nature of operation that happens here.
“This site has been allocated to us so that the operation that is done here will not have any negative environmental impact on the people in the community.” He, however, noted that the nature of their machines emit low pollutants, and gave an assurance that the community was safe.
He also noted that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was also there to ensure that their operations did not affect anyone.
Meanwhile, a Medical Waste Treatment facility, which is situated at the same site, is near completion and would soon start operations.
The facility will also see to the treatment and recycling of medical waste from hospitals and any other facility that produce medical waste.
