The government is reviewing Ghana’s waste management system with a stronger focus on local revenue mobilisation and greater financial responsibility for households, businesses and industries that generate waste.
The review follows an assessment of major waste management facilities in the Greater Accra Region by the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga.
The assessment covered the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP), Achimota and Jamestown Waste Transfer Stations and the Kpone landfill, focusing on gaps in waste collection, transportation, treatment, recycling and final disposal.
Mahama Ayariga said the reforms must address how the sector is financed, including improving the ability of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to collect property rates, market rates and other statutory revenues.
He said a greater portion of locally generated revenue should be used to finance sanitation services, reducing the reliance on central government funding through the Common Fund.
The Minister stressed the need for MMDAs to strengthen their revenue collection systems and ensure that funds generated locally are used transparently and accountably to provide sanitation services.
The proposed reforms also include the adoption of the polluter-pays principle, under which households, businesses and industries would contribute towards the cost of managing the waste they generate.
This approach is expected to place greater responsibility on waste generators while providing an additional source of funding for waste collection, treatment and disposal.
Ayariga also called for waste separation to begin at the household level. He said strategically located transfer stations and treatment facilities would help improve efficiency and reduce the cost of transporting waste over long distances.
The government’s review comes as Ghana continues to face significant challenges in financing and maintaining waste management infrastructure, particularly in urban areas.
Beyond revenue mobilisation, the assessment also examined opportunities for investment in the country’s waste management infrastructure.
The Vice President for Operations and Secretary General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Dr. Fatima Elsheikh, participated in the exercise and expressed the Bank’s willingness to support Ghana’s efforts to strengthen the sector.
The potential support from development finance institutions could provide an avenue for investment in waste treatment, recycling and other infrastructure needed to improve the sector.
The proposed changes seek to make waste management financially sustainable, with MMDAs expected to improve internally generated revenue while households and businesses contribute more directly to the cost of managing the waste they produce.
The government’s review is expected to provide a framework for addressing the financing, infrastructure, and operational gaps identified across Ghana’s waste management system.
