China pledges support to Accra Compost and Recycling Plant

The Chines government has pledged to offer assistance to the management of the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP) to ensure efficient management of liquid waste in the country.

Addressing journalists after a tour of the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant at Adjen Kotoko in Accra on Tuesday, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Sun Baohong was inspired by the progress of work and pledged to support the company’s operations.

The Ambassador, who was in the company of officials of the embassy, visited the site to acquaint herself with operations and to strengthen ties with the company.

The visit also enabled the ambassador and her entourage to understand the various roles the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP) has played in waste management since it commenced operations in 2012.

Chief Executive Officer of Zoomlion and Jospong Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, took the Chinese delegation round to see the company’s facilities and how it conducts operations.

The company’s operations has ensured that refuse pile-up in Accra has reduced considerably over the years, according to officials.

He disclosed that about 600 metric tonnes of waste is processed daily for the production of organic compost for agronomic purposes in Ghana.

Dr Siaw Agyepong says Accra alone generates close to 3000 metric tonnes of refuse every day, but his outfit only process mere 600 of it, due to financial and logistical constraints.

“Accra generates about 3000 metric tonnes of waste every day so it is incumbent on government to work hand-in-hand with the private sector to ensure the wastes are properly collected, sorted and processed for the benefit of all of us.

“By doing so, we arrest the perennial health issues and at the same time provide jobs for the people, especially the youth,” the renowned businessman submitted.

Despite the prevailing challenges, Dr Siaw Agyepong divulged that plans were afoot to establish another recycling plant in the Ashanti Region, to help curtail the myriad challenges bedeviling the sector.

According to him, Ghana currently spends huge sums of money on the importation of organic waste materials annually, suggesting that with enough investment in the sector, Ghana could become the next exporter of organic compost.

Against that backdrop, he said Zoomlion Limited and the Jospong group are determined to address the country’s waste management problems by 2018.

“If all goes according to plan, within the next two years, we shall address all the existing problems facing waste management in the country, to create jobs for the young people in the country,” Dr Siaw Agyepong stressed.

H.E. Sun Baohong thanked the company for what she described as their “immense contribution towards helping to addressing waste challenges in the country”.

She added: “We have seen that this company is up to the task in helping to deal with the waste problems the country faces.

“And we believe the visit is of long term relevance. What we have seen here today is thought provoking and I must say we are very impressed with the kind of work that is going on”.

The visit also took the Chinese delegation to Lavender Hill in Accra, where the construction of the Mudor Faecal Treatment Plant is ongoing.