According to projections, the amount of municipal solid waste generated will increase from 2.1 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. An estimated USD 252 billion was spent on waste management directly worldwide in 2020. The cost increases to USD 361 billion when the hidden costs of pollution, bad health, and climate change due to improper waste disposal methods are taken into account. If waste management is not addressed immediately, this yearly global cost might nearly treble to an astounding USD 640.3 billion by 2050.
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It lies adjacent to the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing a border with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east. Ghana covers an area of 239,567 km2 (92,497 sq mi), spanning diverse ecologies, from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With nearly 35 million inhabitants, Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa.
Having 87.4 percent of its entire population dwelling in urban areas, the Greater Accra region is the most urbanized area in Ghana.Accra serves as both the capital of Ghana and the capital of the Greater Accra Region.
Accra produces more than 1,000,000 metric tons of solid waste per year,which account 21% of the national solid waste generation.Of this waste, 61% is organic, 14% is plastic, 6% is inert, 5% is paper, 3% is metal, 3% is glass, 1% is leather and rubber, and 1% is textile.The rate of waste generation varies from 0.5kg/person/day in low-income areas to 0.9 kg/person/day in high-income areas.
Accra’s solid waste collection is primarily privatized. Over ten waste management firms have contracts with the sanitation ministry and they are in charge of collecting all waste produced in the various collection districts, including commercial, industrial, and residential waste.
Although formal service providers handle about 99 percent of Accra’s waste collection needs, 51 percent of current collections in the country come from the unorganized sector.
Rapid population growth and urbanization, a lack of waste bins, a lack of waste transportation systems, a lack of public awareness of the negative health effects of improper waste management, and lax enforcement of environmental regulations are the main obstacles to Accra’s solid waste management.
Additionally, the inadequate solid waste management methods of urban dwellers are demonstrated by the littering of streets, waterways, and other public areas. Another factor contributing to the difficulties in solid waste management is informal waste collectors lack of technical expertise in appropriate solid waste management procedures.
Flooding and disease outbreaks may result from the careless or hazardous discharge of solid waste into open drains and aquatic bodies. There are still issues with waste management in many Ghanaian cities, even with the efforts of succeeding administrations, such as the policy on private sector involvement in waste control and the empowering of local government agencies to regulate waste management.
There have also been reports of other difficulties, including a lack of equipment, poor waste infrastructure, and a lack of operating capital to support waste management initiatives.
In conclusion,by lowering operating expenses and long-term obligations for cleanup and remediation, waste minimization makes sound business, environmental, and financial sense.
A recommended alternative policy option by stakeholders is to recognize the informal sector’s contribution and integrate them into the formal sector as service providers. This must be backed by written guidelines and modification of the existing policies that render the informal sector workers vulnerable.
Finally,addressing the garbage problem calls much more than just improving recycling initiatives, altering consumer behavior, or tidying up the surroundings. Given the complexity of the issue, a systemic assessment is necessary, taking into account the relationships among waste, conservation, and society as well as how these factors interact to provide local and regional solutions.
Effective waste management benefits the environment and participating communities, whereas poor management can negatively impact human health and biodiversity both directly and indirectly.
Written by:
Francis Agbalenyo
MSc. Ecology & Nature Management
RUDN University, Moscow
Email: francis.makafui@yahoo.com
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
