Schools in Greater Accra adopt waste sorting
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on MyJoyOnline
Illustrative image · Lawrence Baganiah · Pexels · Licence PexelsThe Green Africa Youth Organization is helping schools in Greater Accra sort waste, distributing 200 bins and educational materials across seven municipalities. The programme will turn organic waste into compost and comes ahead of mandatory household sorting, according to MyJoyOnline.
The Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), a Ghanaian organisation working to reduce waste, is rolling out a source-separation programme in schools in seven municipalities in Greater Accra. The initiative includes distributing 200 bins, as well as books, pens and educational materials, according to MyJoyOnline.
Each school receives two bins to separate organic waste from plastics. GAYO says about 60% of waste produced in schools is organic and can be turned into compost for school gardens, while plastics are sent to its recovery centre to be converted into pellets. Pupils are also trained to make compost themselves.
The programme covers La Dade Kotopon, Ledzokuku, Accra Metropolitan and Ablekuma West, among others. It will then be extended to markets and other municipalities, as a government directive is due to require households to separate their waste from 2027, according to Betty Adjei, GAYO’s director of operations and programmes.
The initiative is also intended to prevent separated waste from being mixed during collection. GAYO plans to collect it separately and provide schools with a symbolic payment. The La Dade Kotopon municipal assembly’s materials recovery centre already diverts more than 50 tonnes of waste a month, according to MyJoyOnline. It follows earlier efforts on waste management, after the announcement of new landfill sites in Ghana on 29 September and a partnership for sustainability in the creative sector on 13 October.
