Accra Waste Recovery Park gets 400-metric-tonne recycling plant

An ultra-modern integrated recycling and compost plant has been commissioned at the Accra Waste Recovery Park.

The plant will help to recover waste materials to produce compost and serve as a source of inputs for industry.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Business Development Dr. Ibrahim Awal, Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, commended waste management giant, Zoomlion Ghana Limited for the initiative.

He also lauded the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, for supporting government’s vision of making Accra the cleanest city in the sub-region.

He said the commissioning of the Integrated and Recycling Plant to produce organic compost and other materials will support government’s drive to promote agriculture through the “Planting for Food and Jobs” and the “One District One Factory” program.

He added that government’s creation of a stable macroeconomic environment for the private sector to blossom and expand will drive the economic transformation agenda and create more jobs for the youth.

Other dignitaries namely the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, the Minister of works and Housing, Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea, the Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Hon. Patrick Boamah,the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries, Hon. Robert Ahomka Lindsey, the Greater Accra Minister, Hon. Ishmael Ashittey among others were present to grace the occasion.

The plant which is the first of its kind to be introduced into the country is built on a robust technology to suit Ghana’s weather condition with a capacity to process 400 tonnes of waste daily and nearly 100 metric tons of compost per day to displace the importation of chemical fertilizers into the country.

The facility will also serve as research and training centre for educational institutions where students will be allowed to use the facility for project work, internship and industrial attachment.

Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong in an address explained that Zoomlion since its inception in 2006 has always considered waste as a resource that should be harnessed into re-usable products hence the establishment of the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP) which is the biggest compost producing company in the country and the Kumasi Compost and Recycling Plant (KCARP) which is near completion.

He noted that the non-availability of landfill sites in the country coupled with its high cost of maintenance and a desire to realize the President’s vision of making Accra the Cleanest city in Africa pushed his company to invest in recycling plants.

He disclosed that 16 more of such plants will be established across all the regions to tackle the huge waste problem in the country.

Dr. Agyepong said Zoomlion was motivated to be part and for that matter lead the rapid waste processing solution in the country informed his decision to partner with leading European technology partners – Komptech Austria to help achieve the president's vision.

"We shared and exchanged ideas about our research findings on the concept of mobile and integrated waste technology that can be quickly installed and be capable of handling the type of mixed waste as we currently have in our communities. The outcome of this technological research partnership is confirmed by the 20 million dollar-Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant project that is about to be commissioned,” he said.

He added that many more businesses will be located at the Accra Waste Recovery Park (AWAP) which is an industrial enclave developed by the Jospong group to provide innovative solutions for the recovery of waste materials and have them transformed into other essential products for human use.