The team during the visit to the E-Waste facility
The University of Bochum, Germany, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the National E-Waste Fund have given their support to Electro Recycling Ghana’s (ERG) Electronic Waste disposal.
According to the institutions, the ERG’s environmentally sound extraction of secondary raw materials, recycling into clean material cycles for the manufacture of new products, and the creation of sustainable green jobs are laudable.
Speaking at an awareness creation held on the company’s premise in Oyarifa, founder of ERG, Nana Yaw Konadu, said the project started in 2019 adding that it took the company seven to secure the needed permission from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to commence production.
He added that even though the company is competing with over 5000 informal disposers across the country, ‘we are ready to face the challenges with the support of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) E-Waste programme.’
Senior lecturer at KNUST, Dr. Godwin K. Ayetor, said the University has waste management programmes at the postgraduate levels to help address some of the country’s developmental challenges, especially in the electronic waste management sector.
He said the University has come to a point to offer engineering-based solutions to some of these challenges in the electronic waste sector using the three Rs namely Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.
Administrator of the National E-Waste Fund Nana Afua Ababio said the fund is ready to support in the area of management of electronic waste in the country.
She said the fund fully supports the construction, preservation and control of the safe disposal of electronic waste in the country.
‘We support safe collection, effective and efficient phasing of electronic waste in the country.
The head of the GIZ E-Waste programme in Ghana, Cornelia Stolzenberg pledged the corporation’s support for the ERG.
She said the partnership with ERG will help tell the success of Ghana’s electronic waste environment.
By Samuel Boadi