The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie, has cut the sod for the construction of a Handover Centre (HOC) for defined Electronic waste (E-waste) types.

The Project titled: "Recycling and Disposal of Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment in an environmentally Sound Way Project Phase one,” seeks to test how an incentive system for sound collection and recycling of e-waste can function and contribute to the development of a sustainable national recycling system for e-waste in Ghana.

Key stakeholders include the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Health and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Others are the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association (GASDA) and E-Waste Round Table Association.

Dr Afriyie thanked Professor Frimpong Boateng, the immediate past Minister of MESTI, and his team for the efforts put into making the project a reality.

He lauded the Federal Government of Germany and KfW for their assistance since the inception of the project and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) for allocating a portion of its land for the construction.

Dr Afriyie said construction work was expected to last for nine calendar months, with an associated cost of GHC10,648,038, including taxes.

He said the HOC would be a huge practical step towards Government’s effort to solve Ghana’s current challenges within the E-waste sector, thus, indiscriminate burning and disposal of E-waste.

The Minister said the project would support Ghana to set up an incentive mechanism for the sound collection, dismantling, recycling, and disposal of E-waste, to reduce the damage to the environment and human health.

He said the Project offered collectors or scrap dealers a price for four eligible E-waste types, which lay slightly above the market value for the E-waste type and would subsidise the collection and cover the additional cost associated with sound recycling.

He urged the contractors to deliver nothing but the best, to safeguard the image of both Ghana and the German Governments.

The Minister assured the leadership of GAEC that he would assist them through the legal means available to protect their land and if possible, retrieve encroached portions.

Professor Benjamin J.B Nyarko, Director-General of GAEC, said hitherto the Commission had over 22,500 acres of land but due to constant encroachment, about 50 per cent had been lost, thereby reducing it to a little over 1,000 acres.

He said to protect the remaining acres, the Commission had decided to allocate portions of it to Government agencies to halt the illegal habit. As such, the Commission had gladly offered a part of their land to MESTI to construct the HOC.

The Director for Policy Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, MESTI and Project Coordinator, Lydia Essuah, said the project would be undertaken with a grant of 20 million Euros from the German Government through KfW.

She said there would be an allocation of 10 Million Euros each to both Phase One and Phase Two, adding that Phase One would end in June 2021.

Mrs Essuah said preparations were underway for the procurement of Local Logistics/Transport Carrier to Cart Electronic Waste from Agbogbloshie to Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) Site at Haatso in Accra.

She said discussions were also on-going with the German Partners on possible activities and interventions under Phase Two of the Project.

Country Director of KfW, Arndt Wierham, reiterated the unflinching support of the German Government towards the project and that the partnership would yield fruitful results for the citizens.