Over 3 million kg of waste removed from Accra beaches since 2024
More than three million kilogrammes of textile waste, single-use plastics and other refuse have been removed from Accra’s coastline since 2024, according to The Or Foundation.
The milestone was marked at Kinshasha Beach in Jamestown during a World Cleanup Day exercise involving The Or Foundation, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), community waste cooperatives and volunteers.
The exercise was attended by European Union Ambassador to Ghana Rune Skinnebach, representatives of EU member states and local volunteers.
According to a statement issued by The Or Foundation, the cleanup forms part of weekly activities carried out by the Foundation, the AMA Waste Management Department and Tide Turners, a community cleanup cooperative established through the Foundation’s cooperative training programme.
Tide Turners has 65 paid participants and about 100 regular volunteers from surrounding communities involved in cleaning sections of the coastline.
The Foundation said the area around Kinshasha Beach, near the Jamestown Fishing Harbour and behind Ussher Fort, had been particularly affected by waste carried from the Korle Lagoon through tidal flows.
It said its citizen-science ecological monitoring programme had tracked textile waste along Accra’s coastline weekly since 2021.
A truck owned and operated by the Foundation under AMA authorisation currently removes about 30 tonnes of waste from the coastline every week, the statement added.
President of the Tide Turners Waste Cooperative, Mr Brown, said the progress made over the past three years showed that sustained community action could help address coastal waste.
He said the cooperative planned to complete work on the current section of the coastline before extending its activities towards the port area and Korle Gonno Beach.
The Or Foundation said its Community Ecological Care Network brings together three community-based cooperatives involved in different stages of waste management.
Kanta Keepers collects and sorts textile waste within Kantamanto Market, the June 4 Task Force clears drainage networks and accumulated waste around the June 4 Market and canal, while Tide Turners focuses on waste reaching the coastline.
The Foundation said the model was intended to address the movement of waste from markets through drains and waterways to the ocean.
It also said the network had helped maintain drainage systems and reduce waste accumulation, citing activities carried out before the June 2026 floods.
The Foundation attributed the pressure on Accra’s coastal environment to challenges in waste management, single-use plastic packaging and the declining quality of some second-hand clothing.
It said waste accumulating along the beaches posed risks to biodiversity, fishing communities and people who depend on coastal environments for their livelihoods.
The Foundation said the Community Ecological Care Network currently employs more than 150 people.
More than 300 people participated in the World Cleanup Day exercise, during which an additional 22,450 kilogrammes of waste was removed from the coastline, according to the statement.
The event also featured recycled and upcycled materials made from textile waste.
At the end of the programme, The Or Foundation presented Ambassador Skinnebach with an EU flag made from upcycled windbreakers sourced from Kantamanto Market.
Ambassador Skinnebach said the milestone highlighted the need for sustained efforts to address waste before it reaches the ocean.
He said restoring Accra’s coastline required continued investment in people, waste-management systems and measures to prevent waste from entering the sea.
More than three million kilogrammes of textile waste, single-use plastics and other refuse have been removed from Accra’s coastline since 2024, according to The Or Foundation.