KNUST supports ERG’s sound disposal of E-waste

The University of Bochum (Germany), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Technology (KNUST), GIZ, and the National E-Waste Fund have given their support to Electro Recycling Ghana (ERG) for their sound disposal of Electronic Waste in Ghana.

According to the institutions, the ERG’s environmentally sound extraction of secondary raw materials, recycling into clean material cycles for the manufacture of new products, and the creation of sustainable green jobs are laudable.

Speaking at an awareness creation held on the company’s premises in Oyarifa in the Greater Accra Region on the recycling of Electronic Waste, the founder of ERG, Nana Yaw Konadu, said the company recycles television screens, solar batteries, repairs and encourages the reuse of electronic gadgets.

He said the project started in 2019, adding that it took the company some seven months before it was able to secure the needed permission from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to commence production.

He also said that even though the company is competing with over 5000 informal disposers across the country, “We are ready to face the challenges with the support of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) E-Waste programme.”

According to him, the project to recycle Electronic Waste in Ghana was founded by his co-partner, Han-Wesner who is German.

Dr Godwin K. Ayetor, a Senior Lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) said the university has numerous waste management programmes at the postgraduate levels to help address some of the country’s developmental challenges, especially in the electronic waste management sector.

He said the university has come to a point to offer engineering-based solutions to some of these challenges in the electronic waste sector using the three Rs namely; Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.

It is in this direction that the university has taken it upon itself to convert combustible vehicles to electronic vehicles.

“In this same vein, the university supports any effort targeted at an electronic waste recycling programme,” he concluded.

Nana Afua Ababio, the Administrator of the National E-Waste Fund, on her part said the fund is ready to support in the area of management of electronic waste in the country.

She said the fund fully supports the construction, preservation and control of the safe disposal of electronic waste in the country.

“We support safe collection, effective and efficient phasing of electronic waste in the country,” she said.

The head of the GIZ E-Waste programme in Ghana, Cornelia Stolzenberg, pledged the corporation’s support for the ERG.

She said the partnership with ERG will help tell the success of Ghana’s electronic waste environment