Some waste facility managers in the Volta Region are raising concerns over poor road networks, which they say are hampering the effective collection and disposal of waste in the region.

The concerns come as Parliament’s Select Committee undertakes an assessment of waste facilities in the region. During the exercise, the managers have been highlighting challenges with access roads and how their poor condition is affecting the efficient movement of waste to and from the facilities.

Group Head in charge of Government Relations at ENS Betty Brown Nyadu, one of the waste management facilities, speaking to the media on September 18, appealed for the construction of the access road to enable more waste to be brought to the facility.

“We are appealing that the road is constructed to enable people to bring in more waste, because when you are bringing waste to a site and you're applying a very bad road, what will motivate you not to dump it in any near forest or on any near farm?” she asked.

She said the condition of the road could influence how residents dispose of their waste, stressing the need for improved access to support the facility’s operations.

Beyond the road network, she said the establishment of transfer stations closer to communities would help improve the collection and transportation of waste to the facility for recycling.

Ms Nyadu explained that "for a recycling company like this to function, it must come together with transfer stations that will receive this waste at very close distances around the community so they can haul it to this place for it to be valorised.”

She said the absence of such transfer stations remains a challenge and appealed to the government to support their construction.

“We do not have any such thing, and we are appealing for government support in the construction of these transfer stations so that we can collect as much waste as possible from this site to recycle,” she said.

Recycling waste for agriculture

Ms Nyadu also highlighted the potential of recycling organic waste into fertiliser and compost to support agriculture in the region.

She said a significant proportion of the waste collected is organic and could be converted into useful materials for farmers. She further called for the government to introduce measures that would guarantee a market for recycled materials produced locally.

According to her, a local content bill could support the purchase of such products once they are produced, giving recycling companies greater certainty about the market for their output.

“What we are saying is that government should push some kind of local content bill to support the purchase of these materials after they have been produced so that at least we have guarantee for the material that we are producing and we are also sure that once we have produced, the government is going to procure them,” Ms Nyadu said.

She believes such an arrangement would provide an incentive for waste management companies to continue investing in recycling and improve services to communities,