By Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Sekondi, Aug. 13, GNA- The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) says the pressing waste management challenges in the metropolis would soon end through Climate Finance Facility proposed integrated bio digestion and recycling plant.
Mr. Fredrick Faustinus Faidoo, the Chief Executive Officer, told a delegation from C40 Climate Finance Facility, who called on him in Sekondi, that the project must be a transformative solution.
According to him, the initiative aligns with Ghana’s national climate goals and global efforts under the Paris Agreement, moving the country toward sustainable, low-carbon urban development.
He said at the community level, waste collection remained critical bottleneck, with inadequate infrastructure leading to irregular pickups, indiscriminate dumping, and health risks for residents.
“Rapid urbanization in Sekondi-Takoradi has overwhelmed operators systems with frequent break down of our low-efficiency waste trucks, limited community participation due to financial constraints and socio-cultural factors.”
The MCE acknowledged that the situation had resulted in air pollution, waste-borne diseases like cholera, and environmental degradation, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities.
“ Organic waste, such as food remains and sweepings, dominates household generation, worsening issues when left uncollected”, he added.
He said the Sofokrom landfill site exemplified the systemic failures, operating without a landfill gas collection system, leading to uncontrolled greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Methane and carbon dioxide releases from decomposing waste contribute significantly to the city’s emission estimated at 225,000 Metric tons CO2 equivalent in 2024.
“Without gas capture, the site amplifies climate impacts, underscoring the need for urgent intervention to prevent escalation”.
Meanwhile, Ghana is steadfast in its climate commitments, having ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016 and updating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce emissions by 15% unconditionally and up to 45% conditionally by 2030 from business-as-usual levels.
Recent legislation, like the Environmental Protection Act 2025, operationalizes these pledges by integrating climate frameworks into local actions, including emission reductions in urban waste management.
The proposed plant, he noted, represented a holistic solution: combining anaerobic bio digestion for organic waste to produce biogas and compost, with recycling for plastics, metals, and other materials.
“This will directly address community-level collection by improving efficiency, reducing dumping through door-to-door services, and fostering community education for better segregation”, the MCE added.
At Sofokrom, “it will divert waste from the landfill, eliminating uncontrolled GHG emissions and potentially reducing Green House Gas emission to an estimated 90,000 Metric tons CO2 equivalent, thus enhancing public health, sustainable agriculture via compost, community empowerment and job creation”.
Mr Faidoo said the C40’s support, was timely to scale up intervention for targets and set a model for other Ghanaian cities adding, “we seek your partnership through the C40 Climate Finance Facility to fund and implement this project, advancing Ghana’s Paris commitments”.
Mr Yasar Cohen-Shah, Knowledge Officer at C40 Cities Finance Facility, expressed enthusiasm for the project, highlighting C40’s decade-long global efforts to support climate-smart infrastructure in southern hemisphere cities.
Mr Cohen-Shah explained that the facility’s role was to assist cities like Sekondi-Takoradi in advancing mature projects towards financial readiness and implementation, particularly focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through innovative waste management solutions.
He noted C40’s previous experience in Accra’s waste projects and expressed hope that Sekondi-Takoradi could become a regional leader in waste management, fostering knowledge exchange and scalability.
GNA
Edited by Justina Paaga/Christian Akorlie