J. Stanley Owusu to turn waste into energy
A Director of J. Stanley-Owusu and Company Limited (JSO), a waste management firm, Ms Elaine Stanley-Owusu, has stated that waste management companies desirous of succeeding in the face of challenges must partner the government and place premium on converting waste into wealth as it is practised in other countries.
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She said as a pioneer in waste management services in the country, JSO was working to provide sustainable, eco-friendly and effective solid and liquid waste disposal techniques.
The JSO company, a member of the Environmental Services Providers Association, was established in 1970 and has been collecting and disposing of refuse for more than 40 years in disadvantaged communities such as Avenor, Bubiashie, Buibui and Mukose as well as in planned areas such as North Kaneshie and Central Kaneshie, all in Accra.
“The company, which also has regional presence in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and Takoradi in the Western Region has been dumping the chunk of the solid waste without any form of sorting and recycling, but this is about to change,” said Ms Stanley-Owusu.
Ga South
The company is currently in partnership with a Swedish biogas company and working with the Ga South Municipal Assembly in a public-private-partnership (PPP) arrangement involving plans of establishing waste-to-energy and sorting plants and a transfer station at Oblogo in Accra.
When it becomes operational, the waste-to-energy plant would by the third quarter of this year contribute over three megawatts of energy to the national grid.
Similarly, the proposed transfer station and biogas plant with digesters, which is to be sited at Ablekuma in Accra, would also be expected to contribute two megawatts of power to the national grid.
Ga Central
The Swedish company, in collaboration with JSO, is hoping to establish a biogas plant also in the Ga Central Municipality following successful tests for methane gas. Work on the biogas plant project is scheduled to begin in the last quarter of this year.
Kumasi
According to Ms Stanley-Owusu, JSO was also working with the same Swedish biogas company and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly to establish another biogas plant in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly also in a PPP relationship.
She said tests so far conducted for methane gas in the Kumasi biogas plant had proved successful. The Kumasi plant, which is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, is expected to contribute approximately four megawatts to the national grid for a minimum of 25 years.
Additionally, the JSO is putting up a recycling and compost plant also in Kumasi with the objective of cutting down on the volume of waste at landfill sites in order to prolong their lifespan.
Accra
In Accra, JSO is setting up two transfer stations and other waste management-related projects in a PPP arrangement with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
The transfer stations will be situated at the Owusu Memorial Park at Old Fadama and Mallam.
"The idea behind these waste-to-energy plants is to place value on waste dumped at landfill sites," she said.
Area of operation
Under the AMA’s Fee and Performance-based Contract with waste management companies, JSO was given the Okaikoi South sub-metropolitan area in Accra to control. The company, as it were, therefore operates in Central Kaneshie, North Kaneshie, and the North and South Industrial areas collecting household, hospital, school, company and industrial waste.
"Aside collecting refuse, we also teach our clients how to properly handle their waste. Our strength in service and character has set us apart and enabled us to maintain our status in the industry," said Ms Stanley Owusu.