Known as the Electronic Waste Management (E-MAGIN) project, about 242 Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in the electronic waste sector were trained to properly manage e-waste and reduce air pollution.

The four-year project which begun in 2018 was undertaken by E-MAGIN Ghana with partnerships from the University of Cape Coast, City Waste Recycling Limited, the Ghana National Cleaner Production Center (GNCPC), Environmental Protection Agency and adelphi from Germany.

It was funded by the European Union.

E-waste operators

At a closing ceremony to provide details of the project to stakeholders, the Acting Director of the Ghana National Cleaner Production Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Ms. Leticia Abra-Kom Nyaaba, told Graphic Online that the participating operators have been equipped with the necessary training to better manage their e-waste in a safer way than they use to.

She explained that the operators used to burn e-waste to retrieve and recover valuable metals such as iron, steel, aluminium, copper and in some cases gold.

“Unfortunately, their activities were producing a lot of contaminants into the atmosphere which presented an environmental hazard,” she said.

She noted that due to the proper management of e-waste currently by the operators, air pollution has reduced, creating a safer environment for the operators and residents in areas they operate.

“Ghana became infamous with the burning of e-waste at agbogbloshie in the past and we were on the list of the highly contaminated countries in the world; but in order to redeem the country’s image and stop the burning of electronic waste in the area, the government introduced the e-waste ACT to which the E-MAGIN project was also initiated to support its implementation,” she said.

“We have also formalised the operations of the operators and strengthened their association to create a united front, since they use to carry out their activities in a dispersed way, ” she added.

E-MAGIN

Ms. Nyaaba explained that under the project, about 18 collection centres have been established to control the disposal of e-waste and to serve as a trading point for e-waste operators.

She said the project also provided support to policy makers through dialogue events, studies and policy briefs.

“The objective of the project is targeted at improving the management of e-waste in Ghana towards sustainable consumption and production through an integrated multi-stakeholder approach. This helps to promote sustainable growth, alleviate poverty and prevent environmental pollution,” she said.

She added that the aim of the project is to promote sustainable e-waste recycling along the value chain.

Continuous support

The Senior Project Manager of Electronic Waste Management (E-MAGIN), Mr. Daniel Agyapong, who also spoke to Graphic Online said although the project has ended they will continue to provide support to operators in the e-waste sector across the country.

“We have a website where we have information of all the participant, so we will follow up on them and provide the needed support,” he said.