The Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE) has inaugurated a plastic waste collection point at Jamestown in Accra dubbed, Gamashie Community Buyback Centre.
The project pays residents when they collect sachet water bags, plastic and glass bottles, cans and paper waste and bring them to the centre. It forms part of efforts to rid the Jamestown community, particularly the beaches, of all sorts of waste and is to be managed by Coliba – a waste management firm, together with the community leadership.
The objective is to collect, recycle and recover materials from plastic and glass bottles, cans and paper waste in an environmentally friendly manner. In addition to paying collectors, they also benefit from insurance policies.
“Plastic waste, when properly disposed of, when properly segregated and recycled and given a second Life, can be an income generating activity. Today, we handing off over this project, designed and managed by Coliba, to the people of Gamashie. It is our hope that people will patronise it,” GRIPE’s Vice President, Margaret Mary Tohouenou, said.
GRIPE is a body comprising members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) that either manufacture plastic or use plastic packaging.
“Our vision is to integrate sustainable plastic management solutions in Ghana and this is to complement what the government is already doing with regards to managing plastic waste.
In our short period of existence, we have carried out and supported a number of initiatives geared towards implementing recycling solutions to reduce the impact of post consumer plastic waste on the environment,” she added.
Apart from their collective activities, she said members undertake waste management initiatives individually, as part of efforts of create a circular economy for plastic waste .
For his part, Chief Executive Officer of AGI, Set Twum Akwaboah, said plastic waste is a resource that can be converted into something useful and that GRIPE member companies – those that use plastic, were committed to finding sustainable solutions to the post consumer plastic waste menace in the country.
“The objective of GRIPE is to work with government and the various communities to clear streets of plastic waste,” he said.
