The Waste Management Department of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) is to pilot a waste segregation programme in schools, organizations and institutions in the Tema Metropolis.

The segregation programme is aimed at providing the needed waste material to feed recycling and waste to energy plants.

Mr Solomon Noi, Tema Metropolitan Waste Management Engineer, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview to mark this year’s World Environment Day which was under the theme: “Beat the plastic pollution”.

Engineer Noi added that containers labelled accordingly would be provided to the schools, organizations and institutions when the programme takes off by the end of this year.

He said upon a successful pilot, the segregation would be extended to households.

He noted that the TMA in a Public Private Partnership with Fanmilk Ghana Limited was constructing a Plastic Waste Sorting Centre at Tema Newtown Zingishore area.

He explained that segregated plastic would be sent to the Sorting Centre where it would be sorted and bagged and subsequently sold to plastic companies to be used for all types of plastic products.

The Waste Management Engineer added that the organic waste part would also be utilized for the production of energy while the remaining bulk waste would be deposited at the Kpone Landfill site.

He further announced that the TMA was also working with an Israeli company on a sewer rehabitation programme where digested sludge would be collected and sent to the recycling plant at Borteyman for the production of organic fertilizer.

Engineer Noi advised residents to adhere to the Assembly bye laws on waste disposal by giving their garbage to the designated waste management companies instead of truck pushers and ‘borla taxis’.

He added that such truck pushers and operators of the ‘borla taxes’ ended up dumping their waste at wrong places instead of the landfill sites.