By Muniratu Akweley Issah
Accra, Nov. 01, GNA – Socioserve-Ghana, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) is supporting the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly (LekMA) with a project to develop a plastic waste management policy for the municipality.
The policy, when adopted, would provide the municipality with coherent strategies in its approach to plastic waste management to save the environment, and aid revenue generation.
The project dubbed ‘Promoting Sustainable Plastic Waste Management in the Ledzokuku Municipality’ is being implemented by Socioserve-Ghana with funding from Global Environment Facility Small Grant Programme.
Ms Martha Adjoa Annan, Lead Consultant for and partners on the project, made this known at a baseline assessment workshop organised by Socioserve-Ghana in Teshie, Accra.
The workshop was intended also to engage stakeholders for an inclusive policy formulation on plastic waste management in the municipality.
Ms Annan noted that the municipality was struggling in the management of plastic waste due to lack of a viable policy guideline and action plan.
She said: “Even though there is a national policy on plastic waste management, the local levels do not have any policy for implementation.”
Ms Annan said that despite efforts being made in the management of plastic waste in the municipality, a lack of a policy document, incentives, education and training were hampering the progress of work.
The formulation of the policy in that regard forms part of Socioserve-Ghana’s project, ‘Promoting Sustainable Plastic Waste Management’ in the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly.
The project seeks to develop the Ledzokuku Municipality as a waste intelligent community by applying an integrated approach to plastic waste management through the adoption of 4Rs such as (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) concept.
Mr. Peter Koomson, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of Socioserve-Ghana, stressed that the Ledzokuku municipality was identified as one of the Assemblies that generates huge volumes of plastic waste, and that the policy, when developed, would become a working document for the Assembly to address its waste management challenges.
Also, Socioserve-Ghana had already trained a number of volunteer waste pickers on waste segregation. It has organised clean up exercises along beaches in the municipality.
Again, the NGO is helping the Assembly to establish “buy-back” centres to encourage individuals to present their plastics for a token, all in a bid to achieve a waste intelligent community in Ledzokuku.
Mr. Yaw Boateng Edusei, Municipal Cleansing Officer at the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly noted that segregation of plastic waste would be of much benefit to the Assembly.
“We realized that about 60 per cent of waste materials collected are plastics, though they are not heavy, they occupy more space which make the containers get full frequently”, he said.
“Once the plastics are separated, the refuse containers will serve a longer time for the communities to be better served whiles we also offer scientific treatment to the plastics so it will be of much benefit to the assembly”, he added.
He expressed satisfaction that Coliba Waste Management a waste management service provider has come on board to assist in the buy-back system. Mr Edusei urged residents of Teshie to support the initiative and attract more experts to help in the waste management system.
GNA