N³ was supported by Dr. Kwaku Koduro-Appiah, an environmental scientist and lecturer at the University of Cape Coast. After a representative sampling and examination of the waste in autumn 2021, the evaluation of the analyses was available in early 2022. Options for the separate collection of different fractions had to be carefully weighed up. These questions hat to be answered:
- Which materials from the waste can be recycled in the region?
- How can the quality of these fractions be optimised?
- What are the social and economic perspectives?
- How can the fee system be changed to favour waste separation?
- What can be done to ensure complete collection of all waste?
As the recovery rate is very low up to now, there is a broad field of potential options, but a “waste wise” solution is not easy to obtain. We recommended
- the installation of a truck weighbridge at the landfill,
- cooperation with the informal sector to increase recycling volumes,
- inclusion of commercial waste into further waste sampling and municipal planning process,
- focus on separation of dry and wet waste at first.
Picture: Beach of Cape Coast (Photographer: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, Creative Commons)
