At community levels the strategy is standardize, capture, and disseminate the results, lessons learned and best practice; organize consultations, training and knowledge exchange between communities and other key stakeholders; support demonstration sites and knowledge centers around successful projects; inform, contribute, and influence local, regional, and national policy with the best practices of the projects in the three countries. The project will organize field days to showcase best practices. The knowledge management tools to be applied under this project are:
Knowledge need assessment, mapping, and audits: the project will conduct a needs assessment to understand what information is the most valuable, how to capture it and how to disseminate it.
Best practices: - the programme will continue to capture best practices at the local and global level, conduct case studies, and undertake publications and new media and sharing them at key national and international events and conferences.
Coaching, mentorship, and peer assist programme: - the programme will encourage mentorship to capitalize on the knowledge of successful programmes to help train new grantees.
Peer-to-peer learning: -the programme will facilitate peer-to-peer learning between local communities and past grantees as an effective method to share knowledge, help communities learn from each other and as a tool for replication and up scaling of best practices.
Poor plastic waste management at all levels. Increasing use of the plastic wastes are ?single-use plastic? like poly bags, grocery bags, plastic forks and knives, water sachet, plastic bottles, take away containers, diapers, and plastic disposable cups, plates, and bowls.
Policy Impact
Support the Municipality to enact bye-laws on single use plastic
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
The project vision is to become a major knowledge center for community-based initiatives that address environmental problems at the local level while achieving significant global environment impacts. The key strategies to achieving this vision are to:
develop a web platform that allows better knowledge capture and sharing, monitoring and evaluation the use of new media.
systematize processes and create templates that facilitate data collection at community level for publication.
build capacity for knowledge management at the local level through training and learning.
contribute to relevant knowledge base and fora by increasingly forming a constituency of local capacities with capacity, motivation, and systematic information flow.
establish partnerships to upscale and replicate successful projects and best practices.
capture and disseminate the results, lessons learned and best practice from the project via different media by streamlining and strengthening the database, intranet, and website to allow for knowledge exchange and sharing.
provide guidance to the project beneficiaries on how to capture and disseminate knowledge and conduct knowledge exchange at the local level to be aggregated at global level.
Notable Community Participation
The project will launch a Youth Connect Program in plastic waste management. School children within the municipalities would be taught how to calculate plastic footprints (for households and the marine). This will enable the check out the yearly plastic consumption and appreciate the enormity of the problem. We shall also promote aggressive campaign on how to reduce plastic footprint. Our slogan would include:
Refuse the plastic bags and bring your own cloth bags.
Refuse the plastic straws or change to those made from paper or steel.
Carry your own water bottle. Choose a reusable plastic or glass bottle.
Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods
The project will facilitate the establishment and registration of two social enterprises will register interested households and supply them with different bags for sorting plastic and non-plastic materials at household levels.
The enterprise would be supplied with tricycles to help in collecting the plastics from homes to designated spots for collection.
Support the enterprise to collect waste from the beaches and sent them to the designated places
Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
The project will promote social inclusion and equity by working and engaging with women, youth, Indigenous peoples, and the disabled.
Gender Focus
The project will use the four- cell mixed method of data collection will identify the gender and youth perception and engagement in the sustainability strategy. The interactions with the various categories (youth-male and female under 35 year and adults ? males and females above 35 years helps to gather relevant information and in mainstreaming. The livelihood study of the various categories will also reveal the potential that exist and are not being exploited. The study will meet with all the communities? groups that benefited from the implementation of phases one and two, the NGOs that implemented these projects, opinion leaders, and heads of institutions that have been involved in the project phases. These participants will share their experiences and lessons learnt. They will then contribute their knowledge on sustainability approaches. This shared knowledge will be collated, synthesized and conclusions drawn. After the initial mass consultation with all stakeholders, the project will interact with selected representatives of the various groups at validation workshops to review all the information captured during the workshops.
Project Results
Planned Activities Implemented for the first quater of the project
a. Form Project Implementation Committee
A 9-member project implementation committee was formed, trained, and empowered. Membership was a s follows: Municipal Waste Management directorate (2), Assembly Members (2), Waste Pickers Association (2); Community Youth Leaders (2); Friends of the Earth (1). The Director FOE was the executive secretary.
b. Conduct Plastic waste management audit
As a way developing a strategy for the project, a quick baseline study was conducted to inform the project strategy. The scenario analysis in the breaking the plastic wave research defined eight system interventions and models the main economic, environmental, and social implications of applying different combinations of these changes to the system, at different ambition levels, and in different geographic archetypes. Four archetypes are considered in this analysis ? mega, medium, rural, and remote. Mega archetypes are highly urbanized and densely populated areas where the interface with plastics is intense. Medium archetypes are also moderately densely populated and are adjoining mega archetypes where plastic usage is high. Rural and remote have a low density in terms of population and usage of plastics is low and where access to recycling and waste collection service is limited.
The challenges observed were as follows:
Mismanaged plastic waste poses a threat to municipal social and environmental cohesion. The plastic waste collection rate was 34% (26% dumped on land, 23% dumped at uncontrolled dumpsites, and 17% burned openly)
There is the need for a radical reduction of plastic pollution in the Municipality to minimize leaking into water bodies (9% leakage as of 2020).
The open burning of waste releases toxic chemicals, especially in within the communities was posing great threats to the health of the community members. Already the leak is being felt with fishermen having more plastics in their catch.
The current situation involves the use of measures such as banning or avoiding the use of certain single-use plastics. The absence of relevant policies prevents concerted action from the industry. There are no policies restricting the types of plastics imported into the economy nor to enforce the use of recyclable materials in the country. Various types of plastics are imported which are difficult to recycle. Additionally, there is no policy on the use of recyclates, to create market linkages for recyclers. There is no regulation to enforce plastics manufacturers to use a minimum proportion of recycled material in their products.
There are lack of financing mechanism to support industry players and conditions to make recycling attractive.
c. Build public opinion and support in integrated waste management
The first step in the series of interventions was to develop an efficient waste collection system where sorting of waste would be done at household levels. This approach requiredthe supply of two different waste collection bins for degradable and non-degradable materials to registered homes. This was preceded by an intensive public education system utilizing local FM, town hall meetings, house to house meeting and discussions to teach and train households on the waste sorting system.
In each municipality, the project engaged 12 Youth (80% women) and trained them as enviro-entrepreneurs and empowered to undertake the following:
Municipal level plastic consultation.
Adopted consultative processes approach targeting industry, policy makers and civil society organizations, to explore potential substitutes for plastics and to propose policy guide to minimize single use of plastics.
Organized training and awareness raising for beneficiaries using the 4Rs rule to minimize and manage plastic waste. This will involve door-to-door outreach campaign to inform the households about the effects of plastics, waste sorting, recycling, as well as the economic benefits for the larger community and to registered interested households.
Organized training for local professionals (schoolteachers, imams, association members, housekeepers, etc.) through workshops designed to help them promote eco-citizenship, and to present a profitable approach to waste management, based on a rational management of resources. The training sessions will demonstrate, through real examples, that waste can be a source of revenue and can create jobs at levels of localities.
Mobilized beach clean ups.
Installed special bins in designated places to accommodate the different types of waste (glass, tin, plastic, paper) in each neighborhood.
Supported two basic level pupils to acquire and use reusable bottles to school instead of buying sachet water every morning.
Instituted sensitization and outreach programs to promote regular clean-ups along beaches and other public places of interest.
Trained and built the capacities of enviro-entrepreneurs
Introduced weekly Environmental Awareness Programs on the Local (Obonu FM) Stations in Ga, Twi and English languages.
The project formed a 9-member Project Management Committee (PMC) to organize the communities to carry out work on the project.
Under the directives of the PMC and in collaboration with Municipal Waste management Directorate weeded around the public open spaces. ides and deepen the depts.
Acquired specially designated bins to accommodate the different types of waste (rest, recycle, biodegradable and hazardous).
Organized training for local Plastic waste management professionals (schoolteachers, imams, association members, housekeepers, etc.) through workshops designed to help them promote eco-citizenship, and to present a profitable approach to waste management, based on a rational management of resources. The training sessions will demonstrate, through real examples, that waste can be a source of revenue and can create jobs at levels of localities.
Piloted the installation of 4 special bins in designated places to accommodate the different types of waste (glass, tin, plastic, paper) in each neighborhood.
Supported 25 students to acquire and use reusable bottles to school instead of buying sachet water every morning.
Instituted sensitization and outreach programs to promote regular clean-ups along beaches and other public places of interest.
Activities planned and completed in this reporting period and results achieved for the second phase include:
Planned Activities Implemented
a. Acquired 20 customized bins to accommodate the different types of waste (rest, recycle, biodegradable and hazardous).
A 9-member project implementation committee was formed, trained, and empowered. Membership was as follows: Municipal Waste Management directorate (2), Assembly Members (2), Waste Pickers Association (2); Community Youth Leaders (2); Friends of the Earth (1). The Director FOE was the executive secretary. Through this committee 20 customized bins (10 marked as PLASTIC ONLY and 10 marked as (OTHER WASTE ) were distributed to schools (6) churches (4), hospitals (7) market places and (3) areas where the plastic waste was a menace.
b. Supported the La Dade-Kotopon municipal Assembly to develop and adopt strategies and byelaws for greening the solid waste management and circular economy
As a way of developing a strategy for the project, a quick baseline study was conducted to inform the project strategy. The scenario analysis in the breaking the plastic wave research defined eight system interventions and models the main economic, environmental, and social implications of applying different combinations of these changes to the system, at different ambition levels, and in different geographic archetypes. Four archetypes were considered in this analysis ? mega, medium, rural, and remote. Mega archetypes are highly urbanized and densely populated areas where the interface with plastics is intense. Medium archetypes are also moderately densely populated and are adjoining mega archetypes where plastic usage is high. Rural and remote have a low density in terms of population and usage of plastics is low and where access to recycling and waste collection service is limited.
The following were covered:
Proper management of plastic waste poses a threat to municipal social and environmental cohesion. The plastic waste collection rate was 34% (26% dumped on land, 23% dumped at uncontrolled dumpsites, and 17% burned openly)
There is a need for a radical reduction of plastic pollution in the Municipality to minimize leaking into water bodies (9% leakage as of 2020).
Banning the open burning of waste releases toxic chemicals, especially within the communities, was posing great threats to the health of the community members. Already the leak is being felt with fishermen having more plastics in their catch.
Minimizing, banning and/or avoiding the use of single-use plastics. The policy called for restricting the types of plastics imported into the economy and the need to enforce the use of recyclable materials in the country.
Providing financing mechanisms to support industry players and conditions to make plastic recycling attractive.
c. Build public opinion and support in integrated waste management
The first step in the series of interventions was to develop an efficient waste collection system where the sorting of waste would be done at household levels. This approach required the supply of two different waste collection bins for degradable and non-degradable materials to registered homes. This was preceded by an intensive public education system utilizing local FM, town hall meetings, house-to-house meetings, and discussions to teach and train households on the waste sorting system.
In each municipality, the project engaged 12 Youth (80% women) and trained them as enviro-entrepreneurs, and empowered them to undertake the following:
Municipal level plastic consultation.
Adopted consultative processes approach targeting industry, policymakers, and civil society organizations, to explore potential substitutes for plastics and to propose policy guide to minimize single use of plastics.
Organized training and awareness raising for beneficiaries using the 4Rs rule to minimize and manage plastic waste. This will involve a door-to-door outreach campaign to inform the households about the effects of plastics, waste sorting, and recycling, as well as the economic benefits for the larger community and to registered interested households.
Organized training for local professionals (schoolteachers, imams, association members, housekeepers, etc.) through workshops designed to help them promote eco-citizenship, and to present a profitable approach to waste management, based on a rational management of resources. The training sessions will demonstrate, through real examples, that waste can be a source of revenue and can create jobs at levels of localities.
Mobilized beach clean-ups.
Installed special bins in designated places to accommodate the different types of waste (glass, tin, plastic, paper) in each neighborhood.
Supported two basic level pupils to acquire and use reusable bottles to school instead of buying sachet water every morning.
Instituted sensitization and outreach programs to promote regular clean-ups along beaches and other public places of interest.
d. Trained and built the capacities of enviro-entrepreneurs.
Introduced weekly Environmental Awareness Programs on the Local (Obonu FM) Stations in Ga, Twi, and English languages.
The project formed a 9-member Project Management Committee (PMC) to organize the communities to carry out work on the project.
Under the directives of the PMC and in collaboration with the Municipal Waste management Directorate weeded around the public open spaces.
e. Acquired specially designated bins to accommodate the different types of waste (rest, recycle, biodegradable and hazardous).
Organized training for local Plastic waste management professionals (schoolteachers, imams, association members, housekeepers, etc.) through workshops designed to help them promote eco-citizenship, and to present a profitable approach to waste management, based on a rational management of resources. The training sessions will demonstrate, through real examples, that waste can be a source of revenue and can create jobs at levels of localities.
Piloted the installation of 4 special bins in designated places to accommodate the different types of waste (glass, tin, plastic, paper) in each neighborhood.
Supported 25 students to acquire and use reusable bottles at school instead of buying sachet water every morning.
Instituted sensitization and outreach programs to promote regular clean-ups along beaches and other public places of interest.
Activities planned but not completed in this reporting period and reasons for delay
All planned activities were executed.
Activities planned to be completed in the next reporting period.
1. Refine and develop an integrated model for integrated plastic waste management.
2. Set up an effective monitoring system to trace plastics from source to disposal.
3. Build community awareness of the new model.
Experience, lessons learnt, and issues in this reporting period.
1. The involvement of Traditional rulers, Religious Leaders, and key community opinion leaders as stakeholders of the Project and the establishment of a Community Project Management Committee is key to the success of the project and its sustainability
2. Using community members in community sensitization and reflection meetings serves as a factor in the success of the project since the members are aware of the realities on the ground and issues raised by them for discussions will not be seen more as a foreign mate.
3. Implementation of byelaws on plastic waste management is difficult to implement
