(UGPRP) recovers 55,000 water sachets, over 11,000 plastic bottles in its first week of operation in 2020

The University of Ghana Plastic Recycling Project (UGPRP), has successfully recovered tons of plastics and water sachets in its first week of operation in 2020 following the first-semester vacation.

After resuming operations on January 17, 2020, the project recovered about 55,000 water sachets and 11,680 plastic bottles from the various halls and hostels on campus during the first week.

The International Students Hostel (ISH), Valco Hostel, African Union Hostel (Pentagon) and the Legon Hall Annexes featured as zones with the most plastics recovered, topping in what UGPRP has labeled as the Segregation Index (S.I).

The S.I is a fraction of total plastics recovered from a particular hall against the number of residents expressed as a percentage.

The International Students hostel led with a recorded S.I of 12.1%, with Valco Hostel, Pentagon and the Legon Hall Annexes following with 10.1%, 4.1%, and 7.9% respectively.

The recovery makes it possible to convert the plastics into meaningful products such as sneakers, football jerseys, jackets, satchels, and others.

It is also aimed at helping reduce the harm plastics impose on the environment.

The UGPRP has provided baskets at designated places on campus and continues to urge members of the university community to locate and put their water sachets and plastic bottles in them.



Water sachets go into orange baskets and plastic bottles go into designated blue ones.

About UGPRP

The project is a subsidiary of the University’s Green Project under the auspices of the office of the vice-chancellor, Professor Ebenezer Oduro. UGPRP is mainly made up of student volunteers.

The project started in the 2018/2019 academic year with sensitization and collection of plastic waste created in the University.

UGPRP comes as an earnest call to action to safeguard the environment from plastic pollution. The initiative collects and recycles plastic waste thereby giving second life to otherwise waste generated by the university populace.