Waste managers undergo training in data collection

Waste management experts in Accra have been trained in data collection and analysis to help in effective advocacy, planning, monitoring and for informed decision-making on solid waste.

They were led by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC) under a C40 Empowering Cities Data Research Project dubbed: “Municipal Solid Waste Characterisation and Landfill Emissions Measurement Project.”

The project was initiated to support municipalities to develop and design climate change action policies and programmes with support from Canada.

Participants selected for the training include Environmental Health Officers, representatives of waste management departments, municipal coordinators, and private sector waste actors.

Mr Kwaku Oduro Appiah, a Lecturer and a facilitator of the project, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, asked the participants to work in their communities to ensure that they establish the essential baseline data needed to support management decisions and policy development.

He said data on the characteristics of municipal solid waste generated in cities play a pivotal role in decision regarding the handling, treatment and management options.

Mr Appiah said the participants were equipped with relevant data on municipal solid waste characterisation and landfill greenhouse gases emission measurement.

“The provision of waste composition and quantification data is to support investors, development partners and non-governmental organizations to determine points of entry for business,” he said.

Mr Victor Kotey, the Head of Department of the Waste Management Unit of the AMA, said the participants were taken through series of processes used to determine the quantities, compositions and some relevant properties of the solid waste generated in households, markets, hotels, institutions and restaurants.

“Some of these new technologies include the moisture content, the bulk density, the nutrients and the various chemical and mechanical properties of the waste,” he said.

Mr Bernard Ameyaw, the Operation Manager of Jekora Ventures and a participant, expressed gratitude to the AMA and the UCC for the training and called for more of such programmes to build the capacity of waste management experts to impact public health.

Ms Josephine Gawu, the Okaikwei North Environmental Officer, pleaded with the assemblies to plan their own landfill sites and called for more education on waste segregation at individual household sources.