The Accra Compost & Recycling Plant (ACaRP) has commenced operation with the expectation that the plant would deal decisively with the indiscriminate disposal of waste that has overwhelmed the country, particularly Accra.
Sited at Adjen Kotoku in the Ga West District in the Greater Accra Region, the multi-million plant is expected to recycle 1000 tons of waste.
The Managing Director of the company, Owura K. Sarfo explained to the media and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development on a tour of the facility that ACaRP was an integrated waste processing and recycling company established to collect, sort, process and recycle solid and liquid waste and produce organic manure for agriculture.
“The ultra modern waste treatment facility is expected to treat between 45 to 50 percent of the daily waste collected from the Accra metropolis and transported to landfill sites.”
According to him, the plant had been built to address the problem of plastic waste through sorting, collection, processing and recycling, as well as the focal point for training and research in the provision of effective waste processing.
Mr. Sarfo pointed out that the plant development was currently in its first phase, and added that the plant, which occupied an 80-acre land, was expected to also house in due course, a major plastic processing plant that would be set up.
Commenting on its benefits, the Managing Director hinted that the ultra modern solid waste treatment facility when fully completed would provide about 500 job opportunities with other thousands of employment opportunities through the supply chain.
“The facility will improve on sanitation by reducing health hazards created by the present practice of anarchic dumping of waste in the open, causing regular drainage blocked channels resulting in fatal flooding,” he noted.
Mr. Sarfo emphasized that the facility would provide more efficient and effective means of recovering recyclable materials to sustain indigenous recycling companies with raw materials and compost for agronomic purposes to help cut down the importation of soil conditioners (inorganic) into the country.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, Dominic Azinbe Azumah, was impressed at the level of work and expressed optimism that the completion of the plant would witness a remarkable improvement in sanitation within Accra and its environs.
He assured the management that the Committee would pressurize government to release the remaining grant for the completion of the project.