Caritas Ghana opens community plastic collection points, buyback scheme

Two community level plastic collection points including a Buyback Scheme have been set up at Sakasaka and Salamba, both suburbs of Tamale, to encourage proper waste segregation at the household and community levels in the area.As part of the initiative, community members are to sort out their waste at the household level and bring it to the collection points while community plastic aggregators, who are also involved in the collection of plastics, will also bring the plastic waste they collect, to the collection points.The waste, brought to the collection points, will be transferred to a Plastic Processing Plant at Lamashgu in the metropolis for recycling.It is an initiative of Caritas Ghana, the charity organisation of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, and funded by the Catholic Relief Services, an NGO, to ensure sustainable environmental practices that benefit both people and planet.Mr Rchard Nyaaba Akurugu, Executive Director, Caritas Ghana, speaking during the launch of the collection points at Sakasaka in Tamale, said it formed part of Caritas Ghana's Social Impact Investment Initiative to address the environmental menace posed by low-value plastics such as sachet rubbers and black polythene.The inability to manage the high volumes of plastic waste in various parts of the country has affected waste systems and sanitation efforts particularly in underserved communities.Mr Akurugu said 'Through this project, we aim to address these challenges head-on by encouraging proper waste segregation at the household and community levels.'He added that 'Our collaboration with the Environmental Health and Sanitation Department of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly along with key community stakeholders ensures that these collection points are strategically located in areas that will most benefit from the intervention enhancing the management of communal container sites.'Very Reverend Father Hilary Pogbeyir, Vicar General, Catholic Archdiocese of Tamale, lauded the initiative saying it would protect the e nvironment from the harmful effects of plastics, which had resulted in flooding, pollution, and undesirable public health outcomes.He said the Catholic Archdiocese would create the needed public awareness about the initiative and help to shape the behaviour of the public towards the environment using its network of churches and institutions.Alhaji Mohammed Rufai, Tamale Metropolitan Coordinating Director, said plastic waste was a challenge in the area saying through the initiative, 'We are encouraging people to start picking the plastic waste.'He said the initiative would be sustained noting that 'Once we have introduced monetary value that will accompany the collection, all the people will be motivated to collect the plastics from the environment.'Mr Abubakari Abdul-Halim, Assembly Member for Choggu West Electoral Area under the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, expressed gratitude to partners for the initiative, and said the people of the area embraced it.He gave assurance that the community would ens ure that the initiative is sustained to keep the area clean.Source: Ghana News Agency