Building Solutions TogetherWAste Management
Ghana
The Average Ghanaian produces 4x Less Trash than someone from the USA or Europe.
Yet communities are left with this. Why?
Fragmented waste collection and only 1 engineered landfill for over 3 million people isn’t cutting it. On average in the USA, 125k-250k people would rely on a single landfill.
❋ Insufficient Waste Systems
Ghana generates roughly 840,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year, and less than 5% of it is recycled. The rest ends up burned in the open, dumped in gutters and lagoons, or washed out to sea, where it chokes drains and adds to flooding.
❋ Plastic With Nowhere to Go
Every week 15 million garments of used clothing enter the ports of Ghana from overseas. Much of this is sold in markets, but millions of pieces of clothing are clogging the system.
❋ Imported Goods End Up As Waste
Much of the sorting and recycling in Ghana is done by informal waste pickers. They recover value that would otherwise be lost, often with no protective gear, fair pay or recognition. Any real solution has to start with the people already doing the work.
❋ A Need For Dignified Green Jobs
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Every dollar goes directly to our projects designed to provide dignified green jobs, improve health, and properly manage waste.
