The government is looking beyond the Kpone landfill as Ghana grapples with mounting waste, with plans underway to establish new landfill sites in parts of the Greater Accra and Eastern regions.
Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister Mahama Ayariga said the move had become necessary as existing waste-disposal facilities face growing pressure.
He disclosed that the Kpone landfill had reached capacity and was now being prepared for decommissioning.
“We have plans to construct new landfill sites across the Greater Accra area and Eastern Region to accommodate the waste that is being generated,” he said on Accea-based Citi FM.
“The Kpone landfill site, as you can see, is full. So we’re in the process of planning its decommissioning,” he added.
Mr Ayariga explained that the shortage of engineered landfill facilities in some parts of the country had also influenced the decision to transport waste from Agbogbloshie to another disposal site.
But beyond expanding landfill capacity, the government is also considering other options for dealing with Ghana’s growing waste burden.
The Minister said authorities were exploring technologies such as incineration and waste-to-energy systems, which could turn waste into a source of energy rather than simply disposing of it.
“I agree with him that there are new ideas about how to manage waste such as incineration and the conversion of waste to energy through burning it and then using the heat to generate energy,” he said.
He said discussions on adopting such technologies were already ongoing at the government level.
“I have had those; even this morning I was in a meeting discussing how we should do that as a country,” he said.
Mr Ayariga said the broader strategy was to move towards a waste-management system that makes productive use of waste while reducing the country’s reliance on landfill sites.
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