Waste collection affords a livelihood and income to individuals and groups with limited employment opportunities, due to a lack of skills or a scarcity of jobs where they live. However, waste collection is also an informal, precarious activity with limited benefits; earnings are often unstable as they are based on quantities of waste collected and the price buyers are willing to pay. This often overlooked occupation also requires other players in the value chain to add value by developing products from the waste for activities to be viable.
SMEP-funded projects strive to leave no one behind and to facilitate decent work environments (SDG 8) by implementing various interventions, including activities that benefit the entire value chain and support SMEP’s social value model. This feature showcases activities from one SMEP grantee, the Ghana Clean-up Project, that align with SMEP’s social value model by tackling plastic pollution.
The Ghana Clean-up Project, a partnership between RiverRecycle Oy and local partners, Beach Clean-up Ghana Ltd and Ambitious Africa, took the challenge of plastic waste pollution and turned it into an opportunity to create sources of livelihood for the local community while reducing the impact of plastic in human and environmental health.
The project implements a dual waste collection system – it utilises river cleaning technology to reduce the plastic waste accumulating in water bodies along Accra’s coast and, on land, they engage the local community in land-based collection initiatives to collect plastic waste. These land-based initiatives support informal livelihood activities through the project’s buyback centres where a network of waste pickers and aggregators operating at different levels within the waste collection ecosystem are able to sell their collected plastic waste, including low-value plastic.
The collected waste is transformed into valuable materials through mechanical processing and recycling. The project is achieving a recycling capacity of 330 tonnes of low-value plastic, increasing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) collection and processing volume to 360 tonnes annually. The intervention also has greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potential through various channels:
- displacing demand for virgin feedstock,
- recycling PET waste into PET bales,
- contributing to the global recycled PET (rPET) supply chain,
- replacing demand for imported gypsum board made from virgin feedstock and plywood in the market, and
- reducing waste incineration and landfilling.
These achievements and the GHG reduction potential are likely to grow as demand increases for innovative recycled plastic product alternatives for wood/ concrete products to reduce the carbon footprint in construction sectors.
Given Ghana’s limited waste management infrastructure, the Ghana Clean-up Project supports local municipalities by providing water- and land-based waste collection in return for access to the local plastic waste stream as feedstock for their recycling processes. These interventions contribute towards a circular economy in Ghana and stay financially viable by facilitating a continuous loop that ensures plastic waste remains in the recycling process through plastic waste remanufacturing. This enables constant livelihood support and income streams to bottom-rung players in the waste management sector’s value chain.


The foundations of the social value model require a sustainable and viable business model that can continue operating beyond the funding lifetime and can be scalable to other areas.
The Ghana Clean-up Project aligns with the SMEP social value model through the increased collection of plastic waste and improved revenues for existing waste collectors by creating a demand for plastic waste as feedstock for three business avenues.
Plastic board business: Recycled plastic boards offer an alternative to standard wood-based products. The material can be easily cut and has endless applications: indoor and outdoor applications (furniture, planters, dividers, etc.) and shutter boards in construction (formwork). The existing and potential customers for recycled plastic boards include the construction industry, furniture manufacturers who would use them to increase recycled parts in their products, schools (school desks and chairs), and tourism businesses such as hotels, resorts and restaurants.
PET bales business: RiverRecycle secured a long-term sales agreement for exporting PET bales to Europe where the PET bales are processed into rPET (both food-grade and regular).
Plastic credit business: Since 2019, there have been efforts to create a crediting mechanism to finance plastic pollution collection projects to scale up and boost the supply of recycled feedstock to transition to a circular economy. RiverRecycle is expected to secure plastic credit revenue for the plastic collected from waterways within 2024, with the intention to do the same for land-based collections. This income stream will help to sustain the project’s operations. The project expects this market to grow, fostered by the Global Plastic Treaty and other regulatory policies related to plastic waste.



Impactful highlights of the Ghana Clean-up Project
Environmental health benefits
The consistent operation of the trash booms, coupled with daily collection efforts for floating debris, has resulted in a visibly cleaner beach environment. Besides reducing the floating debris, the collection efforts also help with the water turbidity level. Clearer water conditions and decreased sedimentation suggest improved water clarity and reduced suspended solids, enhancing the lagoon’s aesthetic appeal and ecological integrity. The impact was further emphasised when an incident occurred during heavy rainfall where some booms had to be released to lessen the pressure on them which was caused by strong water flow at the Kpeshie Lagoon.

Before River Cleaning: Initial visual assessments revealed high turbidity levels in the Kpeshi Lagoon, indicating elevated levels of suspended particles and organic matter in the water column, attributed to sedimentation, runoff from surrounding areas, and accumulation of debris and plastics.
After River Cleaning: Following the implementation of river cleaning efforts, a noticeable reduction in turbidity levels could be observed visually in subsequent water quality assessments.
in maintaining beach cleanliness, as scattered waste and plastic were observed
along the Labadi and Laboma beach stretches.”
Social additionalities
Informal livelihood activities do not usually provide some of the vital benefits available for individuals in the mainstream economy, such as access to credit facilities, which often exacerbates marginalisation. The Ghana Clean-up Project’s intervention not only addresses environmental challenges but also enables the informal waste management sector to access some of these benefits. Since November 2023, the project has run a community outreach programme through the establishment of its buyback centres in the local community. This provides an income to informal waste pickers who collect and sell plastic waste to the centre. Beach Cleanup Ghana is also facilitating unofficial support for the informal waste pickers and aggregators by providing advances in times of hardship with the understanding that a certain amount of plastic will be purchased from them in the future.
The project also alleviates the physical burden on individuals by offering transportation support, ensuring fair practices and minimising the risk of overexertion and injury. This additional support empowers individuals and groups to participate in waste collection and trading activities.

Youth employment, training and safeguarding
Like most sub-Saharan countries in Africa, unemployment is high amongst the youth in Ghana. Research has indicated that youth are more likely to be employable if they receive training in different aspects of any work they undertake. There are over 20 full-time employees working for this project, with the youngest aged 20 and the oldest aged 60 (a truck driver). Fifty percent of employees are in their 20s, and fall within the age category of individuals with a higher probability of staying unemployed.
When interviewed, 25-year-old Solomon Anokye, an employee at the plastic recycling facility, who was previously unemployed, explained that through the project, he has been able to pick up new skills in operating machinery, particularly the forklift and baler.

moving the bales around the facility and loading the containers easier.
I believe that operating a forklift is a skill that will be useful to me in the future.”
The training hasn’t been limited to the recycling facility and has been initiated at all project sites. Francis Vuvor (35 years old), who previously worked in the farming sector and is part of the Kpeshie lagoon cleanup team, mentioned that working at the beach has taught him the importance of safely disposing of waste through the appropriate waste management authorities to prevent environmental pollution. He also shared that, besides working at the Kpeshie lagoon, he started an informal plastic aggregating business in his local neighbourhood.
The project staff members undergo training to ensure they are equipped with the necessary knowledge to handle plastic waste safely, and all staff members are provided with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gloves, masks, and safety boots to mitigate health and safety risks associated with handling potentially hazardous materials.
Types of health and safety training undertaken:

The project’s commitment to the health and safety of its employees is ongoing, with regular updates to training materials and procedures based on the latest industry standards and feedback from staff. Supervisors and managers also encourage open communication and continuous improvement to ensure that practices remain effective and responsive to the needs of all employees. By prioritising the monthly health and safety meetings, the team aims to foster a safe, productive and supportive work environment across all operations, ensuring staff well-being and project success.

What's next for the Ghana Clean-up Project
During August/September 2024, the project team identified two new river cleaning sites in Nima Municipality and Kasoa Municipality where they intend to expand their operations. To do so, the team have collaborated with local Zealverve Automation and Engineering to finalise the design and begin manufacturing of two distinct waste collectors, one for Kpeshie Lagoon and the other for the smaller Densu River in Kasoa. This partnership will leverage local innovative engineering solutions to improve waste collection efficiency in these areas. It is expected that the design will be finalised within the next couple of months, followed by manufacturing and installation. Designs are also considering resilience under extreme weather conditions so that a release of the boom can be avoided in future flood events.
The Ghana Clean-up project is an icon of how the circular economy can facilitate environmental stewardship while playing a pivotal role in creating sustainable employment opportunities across various project activities. By integrating additional waste management activities into the existing sector, the project has successfully contributed to job creation and economic empowerment within local communities in Accra, Ghana, and has provided plastic alternatives in the supply chain.