ZoomPak, a subsidiary of Jospong Group, has opened a new solid waste plant at Achimota, in Accra, which can receive up to 2,000 tonnes of waste daily.

The facility has three compaction trailers, which can each absorb about ten waste compaction trucks, which means that 100 waste trucks can dump at the facility daily.

The Achimota Waste solid plant also has a weighing bridge, with an automated system to calculate the weight of waste dumped by each truck, and has an air tight and leakage-proof system to control odour.

The inauguration of the plant brings to three the total number of solid waste transfer stations constructed by the Jospong Group since 2014, with the other two cited at Teshie and Kokomlemle.

Speaking at the inauguration, Chairman of the Jospong Group, Joseph Siaw Agyapong, said the opening of the plant will help ease the stress waste contactors constantly go through in disposing of waste.

“The long hours spent in traffic to dispose waste at landfill sites, which are located far from the city, continue to hinder efforts by waste management companies to efficiently transport waste from point of generation to final disposal sites. The impact of this challenge has been glaring, with spill over and unsanitary sites in parts of the city.

The closest landfills have been located far from the city of Accra. The Kpone Engineered Landfill near Tema is, for instance, sited 90km turn-around and that of Nsumia at Nsawam is 75km turn-around. That is why the commissioning of the Achimota Transfer Station today marks an important milestone for us as environmental service providers,” Mr. Agyapong said.

He further stated that, as President of Environmental Service Providers Association, he is committed to supporting president Akufo-Addo’s vision of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

“We also wish to assure the government of our continued resolve to support its efforts in making Accra the cleanest city in Africa. We believe that the vision is achievable and more facilities such as the Achimota Transfer Station would be needed in strategic locations to drive its fulfilment,” he said.

The Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, commended ZoomPak for putting up the facility and urged waste operators to make good use of the plant in order to ensure that waste is disposed of properly.

“With the construction of this plant, waste collection vehicles and tricycle operators no longer have an excuse to dump waste at unauthorized sites. Any operator found fly-tipping will be seriously dealt with according to the law,” he said.