Proper recycling of electronic materials is central to combating the worst climate change impact, Nana Yaw Konadu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Electro Ghana Limited, has said.
He stated that used products, especially plastic materials from television sets, radio, computers and car batteries were resources that could fetch incomes for households, if treated well-through collection and recycling.
Nana Konadu, who is also the Co-Founder of Electro Ghana, a recycling company that collects products for recycling, stated this when he conducted a team from the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Daniel Krull, round his recycling company in Accra.
Later in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, Nana Konadu urged Ghanaians to treat used materials from metals, plastics and those at the end of their life cycle as resources and not as waste.
He said what people referred to as wastes were resourceful materials, which if handled well could contribute to the growth of the circular economy.
Currently, Nana Konadu’s company receives huge materials from different sources for recycling.
These recycled materials are then used for the manufacturing of television; copper wire and many others.
For his part, Dr Vincent Nartey Kyere of MESTI indicated that the work of Electro Ghana Limited fits into the policy of government in tackling e-waste.
He said the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Act, Act 197 aimed to address the hydra-headed electronic waste challenge in Ghana.
Furthermore, he noted that MESTI had plants in various parts of Ghana, including Ashaiman, Agbogloshie, Koforidua and Tamale.
Mr Krull, said, “I’m amazed and it’s a wonderful company that is working in a very, very important field in recycling and up-cycling, refurbishing.”
He said there is a growing demand for “these resources.”
For instance, Mr Krull explained that there was a directive from the European Union which imposes the automotive industry, to have a certain amount of recycled materials used as parts in new cars by the year 2030.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA