Closing the Loop Project Doubles Capacity with Second Plastic Waste Recycling Facility in Ghana

Accra, Ghana, September 21, 2022– The ASASE Foundation, in partnership with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance) in a project co-funded with the European Union launched the CASH IT! Tema West Plastic Waste Reprocessing Plant in the capital city of Accra, Ghana, today. The plant is the second facility to be established under the partnership and has a processing capacity of up to 2,000 metric tons per year when fully operational, effectively doubling the project’s total recycling capacity.

The Alliance has partnered the ASASE Foundation since 2020, providing technical expertise and financial support to enable the scaling up of operations over 100-fold, from an initial annual processing capacity of 35 tons to 4,000 metric tons.

The expansion builds on the success of the project's first recycling plant in the Kpone Katamanso district. Plastic waste collected from the catchment areas of the two communities is washed and processed into high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE, LDPE) flakes and soft polyethylene pellets which is then sold to recyclers and turned into various household items or as construction liners and waste bins.

The ASASE Foundation now supports direct and indirect employment for over 350 individuals— of whom more than half are women— in various roles including technicians, skilled operators, warehouse managers, aggregators and waste pickers.

"The work by the ASASE Foundation is helping Ghana to increase recycling rates and is creating more value for plastic waste while keeping it out of the environment," said Oliver Boachie, Special Advisor to the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) for the Republic of Ghana at the launch of the plant which was also attended by other officials representing the Tema West Municipal Assembly.

"This project is helping to generate solutions that drive Ghana's circular economy while also creating jobs for women and uplifting communities," said Clemens Beckers, representative of the European Union Delegation in Ghana.

"The Alliance believes in funding solutions, circular business models for plastic and partners that deliver impact at scale. Through our partnership with the ASASE Foundation, we are helping to expand operations, continuing to support the diversion of plastic waste out of the environment, and unlock its value through recycling." said Nicholas Kolesch, Vice President of Projects at the Alliance. "We are proud to support the ASASE Foundation as they continue to move from strength to strength, guided by a strong team with an unwavering vision for their environment and community."

"The ASASE Foundation was founded with the aim of demonstrating a scalable solution to address the problem of plastic waste in Ghana, starting from my experience in Europe. Empowering women from underprivileged regions to play a key role was a natural fit, especially in an emerging economy like Ghana," said Dana Mosora, co-founder and Managing Director of ASASE Foundation. "It has been through the support of organisations like the European Union and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste that we have been able to grow our impact on the community and help transform lives of the people we are serving."