Ministry of Environment launches e-waste incentive payment system

The Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MESTI) says the newly launched incentive payment system for electronic waste (E-waste) will help reduce the environmental and health impacts of improper dismantling and disposal of discarded electronic devices.

The system seeks to dispose-off or recycle electronic waste properly in the future.

For this reason, the part of the electronic waste that is currently recycled in a harmful way, like cables, will be purchased from collectors and recyclers in the informal sector at a price that is just above the market price.

Speaking at the official launch of the incentive payment system for E-waste, Chief Director at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Cynthia Asare Bediako believe the initiative is the right step to rid the country off e-waste and its impact.

“The main objective is to support Ghana to set up an incentive mechanism for the sound collection, dismantling, recycling and disposal of E-waste to reduce the damage to the environment and to ourselves as human beings. Thus provide the Government of Ghana with the opportunity to identify challenges and lessons learnt to improve upon the national system once it fully takes off. To achieve this objective, the project is offering collectors or scrap dealers a price for four eligible e-waste types, which lies slightly above the market price,” she said.

In partnership with German state-owned development bank, KfW, the government has allocated 20 Million Euro to complete both phase 1 and phase 2 of the initiative with projections of contributing to the development of a sustainable national recycling system in Ghana.

According to the MESTI, a contract has been signed with a service provider, Green Advocacy Ghana to commence the incentive e-waste collection in Agbogbloshie.

Also, 24 tonnes of cable have already been collected so far which will ordinarily have been burnt and the environment polluted.