Public health engineering expert and Waste Care Associates Chief Executive Officer, Lukman Salifu, has emphasized the need for Ghana to continue investing in properly engineered landfill sites while adopting modern technologies. His comments follow Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister, Mahama Ayariga’s directive for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to identify land for waste transfer stations and landfill facilities. The Minister has given the assemblies 30 days to identify at least one acre for transfer stations.
Mr Salifu proposes separating waste at source through a two-bin system, allowing organic waste to be processed through biomethanation to produce biogas and inorganic waste to undergo controlled incineration for energy recovery. He also wants assemblies to audit lands originally reserved for sanitation in community layouts to determine whether they remain available, have been encroached upon or can legally be recovered. This approach aims to reflect local realities, including available land and the distance waste must travel.
The Local Government Minister’s directive is significant, as Ghana’s waste crisis has reached a point where the country can no longer afford to treat waste management as a collection problem alone. The debate must move beyond whether Ghana needs landfills or modern waste technologies, and focus on implementing a properly planned system that reduces what is generated, separates what can be recovered, treats what can be transformed and safely disposes of what remains.
The World Bank estimates that Ghana generates nearly 8 million tonnes of solid waste annually, with volumes projected to nearly triple by 2050. Open dumping remains widespread, and land scarcity is already constraining the sector. This means every new landfill must be designed as part of a long-term waste-management strategy, not as a temporary answer to an ever-growing mountain of refuse.
Mr Salifu’s call for assemblies to audit lands originally reserved for sanitation deserves serious attention, given Ghana’s history of struggling with inadequate urban planning and encroachment. Before public authorities spend scarce resources acquiring expensive new land, they should establish what happened to lands already designated for sanitation. Where public land has been unlawfully occupied, assemblies must determine whether it can be recovered through due process.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s 2026 Waste Optimisation Strategy recognises the need for source separation, composting, recycling and resource recovery. Government has also indicated that waste separation should begin at household level, making the two-bin proposal important. Separating organic and inorganic waste can make treatment and recovery more practical, with organic material directed towards composting or anaerobic digestion, and suitable residual materials recovered for energy.
To effectively address the waste crisis, the government should develop a national waste infrastructure plan that links collection, transfer stations, source separation, recycling, composting, waste-to-energy and engineered final disposal. Assemblies should be given clear technical standards, financing mechanisms and timelines, with public reporting on land acquisition and facility development. This will enable Ghana to build a waste system in which every stage works.
Key points
- Ghana must invest in properly engineered landfill sites and modern waste technologies to address its growing waste crisis.
- The country needs a properly planned waste management system that reduces waste generation, separates recoverable materials, and safely disposes of residual waste.
- A national waste infrastructure plan is necessary to coordinate efforts and ensure effective waste management.
