A bus shelter ‘Proof-of-Concept’ project made out of recycled and upcycled plastic materials to provide shade and comfort for commuters has been commissioned in Accra.
The recycled and upcycled colorful plastic bus shelter, which is the first of its kind in Ghana and Africa, is situated at the Dzorwulu bus stop.
The project was funded by Geodrill Africa and Academic City University College students assisted in the fabrications, 3D modelling & printing and installing the bus shelter. Pyramid Recycling also manufactured the wood-like beams from plastic. Caveman Watches also installed a clock on the bus shelter and AB Solar installed solar panels to provide the facility with lights and power.
Yielding Accomplished African Women, a women’s volunteer group, also recovered ‘chale wote’ (flip-flops) waste from Sakumono Mighty Beach to facilitate construction of the bus shelter.
Speaking at the project’s inauguration, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Mckingtorch Africa, Makafui Awuku, indicated that the project seeks to explore the use of plastic beams innovation as a viable alternative for wood and other materials for construction.
He explained that the bus shelter Proof-of-Concept also seeks to “design, fabricate and install a sustainable public space structure that people can experience, promote further research and investigations into plastic waste innovations in Ghana, and discover how these materials will respond to adverse weather conditions and their durability”.
CEO for Geodrill Africa, Dave Harper – who funded the bus shelter project, was praiseful of the great feat by Mckingtorch Africa and pledged to support their next project with GH¢70,000. He further called on government to take pragmatic measures to help manage the plastic waste situation in the country.
“Mckingtorch has come out with recycling and upcycling plastics so that they can be converted into useful things that the public will benefit from. Instead of sitting under the hot sun, you will be sitting under a bus shelter made completely from recycled plastic. It’s really an amazing project and it’s the first of its kind in Africa.
“I would like to use this platform to encourage businesses to come forward and assist Mckingtorch so that we can put Ghana on the map as the best in terms of making plastic recycling more sustainable. Collection points is a good place to start; when we collect the plastic by simply having collection points around would be a good start,” he said.
On his part, President for Academic City University College, Professor Fred Bagonluri, indicated that they partnered Mckingtorch to help them achieve their goal of ensuring sustenance of the environment devoid of plastic waste.
“Sustainability has always been very challenging, and that is where technology comes in. We need to develop a discipline of making the environment clean; we need to find alternate approaches of using these technologies. And so Mckingtorch Africa is doing a great job, we have been a strong support for them. We should encourage every entity that we are engaged with to support, because plastic is a menace in this country. We need to start educating kids even from the kindergarten (KG) about their responsibilities to maintain clean surroundings,” he said.
Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Sandra Owusu Ahinkorah who was a Guest of Honour, pledged to support the project with GH¢5,000 and commended Mckingtorch Africa for their initiative.
“Our failure to manage plastic waste effectively has led to plastic pollution making our environment unclean and unsafe. For that matter, recycling and upcycling plastic waste – also known as creative use of plastic waste – is very important. It is in this regard that I would like to commend Mckingtorch Africa for this laudable initiative, which is the first of this kind on the African continent constructing a bus shelter out of recycled and upcycled waste collected from the street,” she emphasised.
Other dignitaries like Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Lynn Johnston, Azumah Nelson, Ama K. Abebrese, Yaw Sakyi among others were in attendance.
