3 Partner to create jobs in plastic waste management
The German Development Cooperation (GIZ), in partnership with Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Blue Skies Products Ghana, has launched a project expected to create 600 green jobs for women and youth in the plastic waste management sector.
The INNOWASTE project, launched in Accra last Thursday, aims to tackle Ghana's growing plastic pollution crisis while providing sustainable livelihoods.
The problem
Ghana generates approximately one million metric tonnes of plastic waste annually, but only about 9.5 per cent is collected for recycling.
The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, said: “By targeting plastic waste management and focusing on the livelihoods of women and youth, InnoWaste is an intervention that is both timely and strategic.”
She disclosed that the government would soon authorise the transfer of carbon credits from four recycling plants to the Swiss Government under the Paris Agreement framework.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Suweibatu Adam, cautioned that plastic leakage into the country’s water bodies was projected to grow by 190 per cent by 2040 if nothing was done.
She disclosed that the country currently spends $290 million annually, 1.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), dealing with waste disposal consequences.
Opportunity, jobs
Research by the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre estimates that Ghana could generate more than GH¢88 million annually simply by recycling its plastic waste.
The project, which runs from October 2025 to September 2028, will create 600 jobs, with 30 per cent targeted at women and 60 per cent at youth, according to the Technical Advisor for develoPPP, Donald Manlenze Eshun.
It will also improve working conditions for 3,656 people and increase the income of 365 actors within the plastic waste value chain.
“We need to instil the mindset of plastic waste management in their minds, so that when they grow, they are already aware,” Mr Eshun added.
Five hundred youth will receive tricycles, hand-drawn carts and collection equipment.
Plastic vending machines, common in Europe but rare in Ghana, will be installed at designated points, allowing individuals to deposit bottles and receive rewards.
The project will also provide National Health Insurance Scheme registration and health screening for 60,000 people, as well as Personal Protective Equipment for waste workers.
Partnership
The Head of Zoomlion Foundation, Thomas Narh Korley, explained that Zoomlion would bring years of expertise in working with informal waste workers, including street sweepers, plastic collectors and recyclers.
He stated that Zoomlion had identified key challenges facing waste workers, including a lack of transportation and storage facilities.
The NIED Cluster Coordinator at GIZ Ghana, Wilhelm Hugo, described the initiative as a “triple win” for the nation.
“It delivers an environmental win by reducing plastic pollution, an economic win by generating decent green jobs and a social win by empowering the women and youth who are the backbone of our waste value chain,” he said.
The Head of Foundation at Blue Skies Products, Alistair Djimatey, added: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
Today, we choose to return the borrowed future in a better condition.”
The project is funded through the develoPPP programme and implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, in partnership with Zoomlion and Blue Skies.
