The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly will commence work on a Waste-to-Energy project in the middle of this year, Madam Patricia Appiagyei, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, has said. Under the project to be executed by Cinergex, a Canadian company in collaboration with the assembly, large quantities of solid waste generated in the metropolis will be used to produce electricity which will feed into the national grid. Mad Appiagyei said this in a speech read for her at the launch of a “Waste Separation Project”, a programme being executed under the auspices of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana Limited. The project which is currently being implemented on a pilot basis in the Asokwa sub-metro area, seeks to examine the potential for the implementation of an integrated waste management system in the districts and municipalities. It aims at sorting waste into plastics, food and organic waste with the view to enhancing their re-use, recycling, treatment and final disposal of various components. Madam Appiagyei said KMA was committed to ensuring an effective management of waste in an efficient manner to allow for a clean and safe environment for an accelerated socio-economic development. She was not happy that inadequate financial resources to support effective management of solid waste in the metropolis had resulted in poor service delivery and a huge debt accumulation to private waste collectors. She charged research institutions and non-governmental organizations to commit resources to partner the KMA to address this challenge for the benefit of the metropolis. Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, expressed the hope that the waste separation project would be replicated in all districts and municipalities to ensure a drastic reduction in diseases associated with the improper disposal of waste. Source: GNA