Ghana, Germany to continue phase two of e-waste programme

The Governments of Ghana and Germany are continuing with the phase two of the Environmentally Sound Disposal and Recycling of Electronic Waste (E-Waste Programme) for sustainable management and disposal of electronic waste.

The E-Waste Programme is a project, which was born out of a Technical and Economic Cooperation Agreement between Ghana and Germany in 2016 and aims at ensuring the collection, transportation, dismantling and recycling of e-waste.

The first phase of the project was from August 2016 to January 2020, and the second phase is expected to start from February 2020 to January 2022 with a total budget of 10 million Euros for both phases.

It was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with financial support from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) and technical support by GIZ in partnership with Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI).

Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovations said under phase one: Parliament passed the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, 2016 (Act 917); and a Legal Instrument (LI) 2250 in January 2017, to regulate waste management in the country.

He said under the second phase, the German government would be building a national holding Centre at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.

The sector Minister said since its implementation, the Programme had seen the construction of a Technical Training Centre and Health Clinic on Old Fadama scrap yard, commonly known as Agbogbloshie.

He said as part of the second phase, the Ghana Government would construct a National Recycling Centre, at Agbogboloshie, to ensure the effective collection and recycling of e-waste.

Mr Christoph Retzlaff, German Ambassador to Ghana said the programme provided three fields of activity, which reflected three levels of intervention characterised with e-waste.

The first intervention was: to improve the political conditions at the macro level to help in creating an appropriate legal and administrative basis for the proper collection and recycling of e-waste.

The second intervention was to develop and introduce sustainable business models in the formal sector aimed at supporting the establishment of a sustainable e-waste recycling industry.

The third was for the capacity development of actors in the informal sector, particularly the Old Fadama scrap yard, for appropriate recycling and management of e-waste to avoid health and environmental risks.