The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kweku Afriyie has cut sod for the construction of a 1500m2 electronic waste recycling facility at Ghana Atomic Energy Commission in Accra.
The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) handed over the land to the ministry to supervise the construction.
Dr. Afriyie said when the construction is completed, it will serve as the Handover Centre (HoC) which will be the centre for the collection and receiving of e-waste fractions from informal collectors or individuals.
The minister said, the Financial Cooperation project that is being implemented is in collaboration with the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW).
He said the project’s main aim is to support Ghana to set up an incentive mechanism for the sound collection, dismantling, recycling, and disposal of e-waste to reduce the damage to the environment and to human health.
He announced that the project will giving scrap dealers a price eligible of four (4) e- waste types which is a little over the market value for the same e-waste type.
“To achieve this objective, the project is offering collectors or scrap dealers, a price for Four (4) eligible e-waste types, which lies slightly above the market value for the e-waste type, the project will subsidize the collection and cover the additional cost associated with sound recycling” the minister said.
Dr. Afriyie also said the construction is expected to cover a period of nine calendar months. “I wish to remind the contractors that everyone is watching in anticipation, and I expect them to deliver nothing but the best, to safeguard the image of both the Government of Ghana and the German Government” Dr. Afriyie said.
According to the Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate (PPMED) Lydia Essuah, the funding for the project is worth 20 million euros for both the phase one one and phase two, of which 10 million euros is budgeted for the first phase one.
She added that the purpose of the project is to switch from the normal way to the electronic way of recycling. Explaining further, she said the company has also engaged key stakeholders like the Greater Accra Scrap Dealers, E-waste Managers and others.
The programme was honored with the presence of the Country Director and representatives of KFW, representatives of the German Embassy in Ghana, the Executive Director of EPA and other dignitaries.
