The government is targeting the creation of at least 20,000 permanent jobs through a major overhaul of Ghana’s waste management and circular economy sectors, Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister Mahama Ayariga has announced.

Mr Ayariga said the government was developing a nationwide sanitation management system that would not only improve waste collection and disposal but also create employment opportunities, particularly for young people and women.

“We hope to create not less than 20,000 permanent jobs in waste management and the circular economy. I’m being very conservative here,” he said.

Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, October 5, 2026, the Minister said the proposed system would be backed by investments in waste collection vehicles and tricycles, household waste bins, transfer stations and engineered landfill sites.

He said the government was working on a comprehensive nationwide sanitation strategy aimed at establishing efficient waste management infrastructure across the country.

According to Mr Ayariga, Finance Minister Ato Forson was awaiting the full cost estimates for constructing engineered landfill sites in all regional capitals, as well as waste transfer stations in every Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA).

A key component of the proposed reforms is the replacement of existing open-bucket tricycles with self-loading and self-tipping vehicles.

Mr Ayariga said the change could open up more opportunities for women to participate in the waste management sector.

“I go to the transfer stations, and I stand there and observe, and every tricycle that comes there, the rider is a man. His helper is a man,” he said.

“And what we’re trying to do is to replace the existing open-bucket tricycles with self-loading and self-tipping tricycles. And we believe that those can be easily operated also by young girls.”

The Minister stressed that the planned reforms were not intended to push existing waste management workers out of business.

“There are people already involved in using tricycles to convey the waste. There are people using trucks to convey the waste. We don’t want to displace them,” he said.

“We want to assure them that the new system that we’re going to operate will have them included.”

Mr Ayariga said the proposed system would also create revenue through household waste collection payments, recycling activities and companies involved in converting waste into energy.

He explained that while the government would initially fund the infrastructure investments, the system would eventually recover costs through the revenue generated from these activities.

The planned sanitation reforms come as the government intensifies efforts to address persistent waste management challenges across the country.

Mr Ayariga cited the evacuation of accumulated waste at Abossey Okai as part of measures undertaken after President John Dramani Mahama directed that sanitation be tackled “head-on.”