The Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP) at Adjen Kotoku in the Greater Accra Region has taken action to tackle Ghana’s growing waste-management challenge by converting municipal solid waste into compost and recyclable materials.

ACARP said the facility receives waste collected from homes, markets, institutions and businesses across the capital.

However disclosed that, after the waste arrives at the plant, it is sorted into different categories, with organic waste processed into compost and plastics, paper and metals separated for recycling, thereby reducing the amount of waste that ends up at landfill sites.

Speaking to the media, the Plant Manager of ACARP, Ing. Malik Kwablah Ganyo, asserted that a large proportion of Ghana’s waste has the potential to be reused instead of being discarded.

"Recent data on municipal solid waste in Ghana suggests that close to 60% of this waste stream is organic.

"Every ton of compost we produce diverted waste from the landfills, which cuts emission levels and contributes a circular economy.

"Waste is not a trash, but it holds a future to improving the soil structure, and agriculture economy, and then ensuring that we are able to plow back what could be regarded as waste into a resource," Mr Ganyo said.

According to Ing. Ganyo, transforming organic waste into compost not only reduces the volume of waste sent to landfill sites but also supports agriculture and promotes environmental sustainability.

Charity Ohipeni, a Journalism and Media Studies student at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW).