Zoomlion eyes investment in waste-to-energy plant; clears air on contract

Zoomlion, a waste management company, is planning to set up a waste-to-energy plant in the foreseeable future, aimed at modernizing waste in the most economical way, Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Siaw Agyapong, has hinted.

“Our obvious destination is to move towards the establishment of a waste-to-energy plant which will undoubtedly lead to the full utilization of our waste in the most economical way,” he said at a press soiree organized by the company in Accra.

According to Mr. Agyapong, achieving it requires a major financial support from government.

He indicated that when it finally comes on stream, it can control the quantity of waste buried in the landfills– which are difficult to secure in most regional capitals, and also leads to water and air pollution.

Waste recycling is at the forefront of Zoomlion’s operations, with the company already running the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant and according to Mr. Agyapong, a similar compost plant in Kumasi is nearing completion.

“Efforts are currently being made to replicate this in all the regions using mobile compost technology”.

Other recycling plants that the company has put in place that fits into government’s 1D1F includes universal plastics products and recycling (UPPR), which is bin production company turning sachet plastics into waste bins and production of bin liners.

Dredging of the Odaw River, which commenced in 2015, is also being sustained, Mr. Agyapong stated.

Presently, the company is also leading the drive to ensure that at least one million households get bins to properly dispose off their waste for collection.

‘Gov’t did not have money to pay us’

Contrary to reports that government has cancelled a US$74m contract awarded to the Jospong Group of Companies to supply waste bins, the CEO of Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Siaw Agyapong, has maintained that government rather did not have money to pay his company.

“We had an agreement with government that we will not supply if they cannot pay. Government didn’t have money to pay, not that it was terminated. The contract elapsed by itself over the two years. We did not supply because government did not have money and so naturally elapsed” he said.

According to Mr. Siaw Agyapong, they reached out to Ecobank with a proposal, which provided a US$10m facility to enable the company kick-start the dustbin distribution business on a commercial basis.