The government is preparing to construct new landfill sites in the Greater Accra and Eastern regions as existing waste-management facilities come under increasing pressure, Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs Minister Mahama Ayariga has said.

Mr Ayariga said the expansion of waste-management infrastructure had become necessary because of the growing volume of waste being generated, while some existing facilities were nearing or had already reached capacity.

Speaking on Monday, September 29, he said the Kpone landfill had reached capacity and was being prepared for decommissioning.

“We have plans to construct new landfill sites across the Greater Accra area and Eastern Region to accommodate the waste that is being generated,” he said.

“The Kpone landfill site, as you can see, is full. So we’re in the process of planning its decommissioning,” he added.

The minister said the limited availability of engineered landfill facilities in some parts of the country had also contributed to decisions to transport waste from areas such as Agbogbloshie to other disposal sites.

According to Mr Ayariga, the government is therefore considering a broader approach to waste management that goes beyond landfill disposal.

He identified incineration and waste-to-energy technology among the alternatives under consideration, noting that waste could be burned to generate heat and, ultimately, electricity.

“I agree with him that there are new ideas about how to manage waste, such as incineration and the conversion of waste to energy through burning it and then using the heat to generate energy,” he said.

Mr Ayariga said discussions on the adoption of such technologies were already under way, describing them as part of efforts to develop a longer-term solution to Ghana’s waste-management challenges.

“I have had those; even this morning I was in a meeting discussing how we should do that as a country,” he said.

The minister said the government's broader strategy would seek to make productive use of waste rather than continue to rely predominantly on landfill disposal.

The planned development of new landfill facilities, alongside the exploration of waste-to-energy and other technologies, is expected to form part of efforts to expand Ghana's capacity to manage rising waste volumes while addressing pressure on existing disposal sites.