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This collection is part of Footprints Africa's work to build a comprehensive database of circular economy initiatives in Africa. 

This is a result of the collaboration with the <a href="https://www.acen.africa" target="_blank">African Circular Economy Network (ACEN)</a>, as part of the programme to support the circular economy transition in Africa. Footprints Africa's vision is that businesses can be a force for good at scale. Their mission is to advance sustainable, scalable and inclusive approaches to development of local African economies. Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, such as those inspired by the circular economy, to address the challenges of growth and create jobs. 

This open-source dataset features well over 500 cases and 200 examples of policies and laws and intent to collect inspiring examples of initiatives from across Africa, in order to inform the global dialogue, which is largely focused on the European and American context. 

To learn more about Africa's initiatives and content to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, visit https://www.footprintsafrica.co/



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Footprints Africa

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Business case

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Give products and parts another life after their end-of-use

Maximise lifetime of products after use

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

 To us a circular economy is a system that moves away from the current make-use-dispose model to one where we have designed out waste and pollution, are able to keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. A circular economy is not a nice to have but a necessity if we are going to develop sustainably. Since the launch of GRIPE, we have been following national, regional and international discussions on how to move towards a more circular economy. As manufacturers and producers, we are constantly adapting the way that our products are being designed, produced and transported to allow for an increase in packaging re-design, reuse and recycling 

Domeabra M/A Junior High School, a primary school in Ejisu Juaben district of Ashanti region, has provided new latrines for its students. They are not just any latrines, as they are built in part with materials made from plastic waste.
It is a building with six latrines. It was built by Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE), an association formed mainly by large agri-food companies with interests in Ghana. For example, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Guiness (owned by the British company Diageo, Ndlr), Nestlé, Voltic and PZ Cussons. The GRIPE worked on this project with the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
A pilot project
The construction of the toilets at Domeabra M/A Junior High School required the processing of 2 tonnes of plastic waste. This material has been integrated into the materials used in the construction of the building. Thus, in mortar, processed plastic waste represented 3% while 80% was used to make the paving stones. “This project, which uses plastic waste as concrete for construction, offers a huge opportunity for large volumes of plastic waste, used waste. Concrete blocks are an important building material in Ghana, representing more than 80% of the built environment,” explains Ama Tagbor, the project’s senior consultant.
GRIPE and BRRI took four months to build the facility housing the latrines at Domeabra M/A Junior High School. The research that led to the construction of the facility began in 2018. “As a pilot research project, the Ghana Industrial Association (GIA) and the GRIPE expect that the scientific data generated by the project will inform policy formulation, further research and replication in other parts of Ghana,” says Ama Tagbor.
The Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE) and the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) initiative could lead to the construction of additional public toilets from plastic waste, thus contributing to the recovery of plastic waste in Ghana and to the government’s policy to eradicate open defecation that causes public health problems in this West African country.
Jean Marie Takouleu


The Dow Chemical Company officially launched a coalition – named the Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE) – in an event held in Accra, Republic of Ghana.
The aim is to improve plastic waste management in the country in collaboration with Coca-Cola, Fan Milk, Guinness, PZ Cussons, Unilever, and Voltic under the auspices of the Association of Ghana Industry (AGI). The coalition is to support government efforts to integrate sustainable waste management solutions, advocate improved waste management practices, contribute to increased collection and recycling rates countrywide, and provide employment opportunities through scalable recycling solutions, the chemical company informed in December last year.
According to Dow, the plastics advocacy project for Ghana began after the government proposed a ban on plastics following a flooding and fire disaster in 2015, which was blamed on poor waste management, particularly of plastic items. The team of the chemical company “led other private sector stakeholders through the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in engaging regulators to provide science-based understanding and alternative resolution options”, which was followed by the creation of this private sector recycling coalition (GRIPE). Earlier in 2017, Dow‘s project to Improve Plastic Waste Value Chain in Ghana was granted 200,000 US-Dollar from the company‘s Impact Fund and now includes a three-year financial commitment to GRIPE, as well as a collaboration with two local NGOs (Environment 360 and Asase Foundation) for additional impact.
Ghana’s Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Kofi Adda, welcomed the initiative. “We recently launched a National Total Sanitation campaign to tackle sanitation in our major cities. We recognize that the government cannot address the issue of sanitation and plastic waste alone, hence the efforts by industry to rise up to the challenge and help make a difference, this time around, is laudable and worthy of every support they may require to succeed,” he was cited.
Forum on Sustainable Plastic Waste Management
In January this year, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), has advised Ghanaians to minimize their use of plastic products and substitute them with degradable materials. The minister, who was addressing participants at a stakeholders’ forum on sustainable plastic waste management, organized by the GIZ (German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH) in collaboration with MESTI in Accra, said the amount of plastic waste being generated globally on daily basis was reaching alarming proportions.
However, in his view, an immediate ban on the production and use of plastic in the country was not the solution; he advocated a gradual system of effective preparation and sustainable management through useful recycling of waste materials into productive goods. The country could take advantages of the availability of raw materials to generate income, create jobs and turn plastic waste into creative and beneficial products for use, he was quoted by the Ghana News Agency.
As reported, the forum presented a platform for discussions on current trends, emerging issues and best practices from across the world, and gave participants the opportunity to make inputs into the draft of the country’s National Plastic Policy, currently being developed by MESTI, to make it more coherent and implementable. The Ministry’s strategy in managing plastic will hinge on “reducing use, re-use, refuse single-use recycle, and replacement, such as replacement of plastic shopping bags by cotton materials or paper”.
New Waste Treatment Plants
According to media reports, Ghana’s waste management sector is characterized by poor waste collection systems and indiscriminate disposal of refuse. The volume of waste generated by about 29 million Ghanaian inhabitants on a daily basis is estimated at 14,000 tons. In 2015, the country was ranked by the World Health Organization as the 7th dirtiest country in the world, Ghanaweb reported.
Currently, the government is addressing Ghana’s water and sanitation challenges. Each of the country’s regions will get two waste treatment plants, Joseph Kofi Adda, Ghana’s Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, was quoted in July last year. At a stakeholder forum to devise a three-year strategic plan for the execution of the Ministry’s mandate in tackling the country’s water and sanitation difficulties, he also informed, that the government intends to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa. Ghana‘s first-ever Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources wants to ‘double or triple‘ the budget for water and sanitation in his country to launch a total sanitation campaign.
Water: Ambitious Goals
According to Dutch-based international think-and-do-tank IRC, ambitious tasks await Joseph Kofi Adda, who attended last year’s World Water Week, the world’s biggest conference on water and development held annually in Sweden’s capital Stockholm. The organizations IRC and Safe Water Network work together to achieve Ghana‘s ambitious targets over the coming years.
As reported by non-profit-organization IRC, Ghana‘s plan is to improve the sanitation situation drastically by 2020: “Around 25,300 boreholes will be constructed together with 300 small water systems. One million toilets will be built and Accra should be Africa’s cleanest city in four years’ time. The targets contribute to the larger goal of sustainable water and basic sanitation for all in Ghana by 2025 – a goal that surpasses the global Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to provide everyone with water and sanitation by 2030.” The information provided by IRC also says, that about 60 percent of Ghana’s population has access to basic drinking water. Around 14 percent of the inhabitants have basic sanitation and less than 19 percent have access to water and soap. Waterborne diseases or diseases related to poor sanitation, such as cholera, would continue to affect the population. Diarrhea would kill more than ten thousand children under five every year, IRC referred to information provided by UNICEF.
As reported, user tariffs are paying for around 75 percent of Ghana’s water and sanitation facilities and donors contribute 19 percent. But it is estimated that the donations will decline in the wake of Ghana’s promotion to a lower middle-income status. But the Ghanaian government has secured a two-billion-dollar Chinese loan that will help to build the infrastructure needed for sanitation facilities so that Accra will be the cleanest city in Africa one day.
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Investment Opportunities in Ghana
The Ghana Investment Promotion Center (www.gipcghana.com) co-ordinates and monitors all investment activities and assists domestic and foreign investors.
The Public Procurement Authority (www.ppaghana.org) has the task of ensuring that public procurement is carried out in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner.
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Photo: pixabay
GR 12018


A group picture after the donationThe Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprise (GRIPE), an industry-led initiative by eight (8) manufacturing companies under the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), has donated a sum of GH¢10,000 and some items to the University of Ghana Plastic Recycling Project (UGPRP.The cheque was received by Prof. Anthony Andrew Adjei, Chairman of the Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Team.   While expressing his appreciation to GRIPE, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor’s Green Project. Prof. Adjei spoke of the success of the UGPRP and said it was especially gratifying to note that the UGPRP is a student led initiative. He was also grateful to GRIPE for the support to the project since its inception and urged GRIPE to rally for more support from its members. Ms. Joyce Ahiadorme presenting a cheque to Dr. Ted Annang on behalf of GRIPE Prof. Anthony Andrew Adjei, Chairman of the Vice Chancellor’s Strategic TeamIn her remarks, Ms. Joyce Ahiadorme, from Voltic Ghana Ltd, and leader of the GRIPE delegation, said that waste management was a shared responsibility which includes society, waste pickers, recycling industry and the government.  She called for an integrated sustainable waste management solution which will focus on data and research, public advocacy, solutions and implementation as well as multi stakeholder collaboration. Ms. Ahiadorme further indicated that, the duty of the private manufacturer was to improve waste management, facilitate investment, create awareness, contribute to increased recycling rates and provide employment. She assured the University of the continuous support of GRIPE to the UGPRP.Ms. Joyce AhiadormeThe team leader of the UPRP, Mr. Julius Jayson Botchway, used the occasion to highlight the activities of the project and how successful it has been since its inception. According to him, the UGPRP engage in activities such as education and awareness creation, sorting, collection and storing of recyclables and sale of segregated plastics. To aid in improving the project, Mr. Botchway called for additional tricycles, giant bottles for lecture halls and departments, bags for storing collected recyclables, value addition machines, storage unit or a buy-back centre construction and an app to aid in collection and education.Mr. Julius Jayson BotchwayDr. Yirenya-Tawiah, Acting Director, Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, (IESS), in her welcome address called for the need to firm up the relationship with GRIPE since this will go a long way to promote the success of the UGPRP.Dr. Benjamin D. Ofori, Co-Chair of the Vice-Chancellor’s Green Project lauded the volunteers especially the collectors for their dedication, commitment and honesty towards the project. He envisaged a stage where plastics from the University would be exchanged for bricks made from plastic to aid in the pavement activities on campus as the University strives to achieve a green and well paved campus.Mrs. Stella A. Amoa, Director of Public Affairs, on her part expressed gratitude to GRIPE and gave assurance of lending support to the publicity efforts of UGPRP.UGPRP is a student–led initiative with full support from the Vice Chancellor’s Green Project. It is a joint initiative from the camps of two student groups namely Technology without Borders (Recycle Up! Ghana) and Cyzoe-Ghana. The project is expected to be a continuous and permanent project on the main and subsequently other campuses of the University of Ghana. It is also aimed at creating an attitudinal change towards plastic waste by instilling a culture of source segregation and recycling of plastic waste to aid the greening of the University of Ghana Campus.Mr. Nana Nathan Afari, Georgina Quin, Samuel Kotoka, Rita Djabah and Lawrence Tenu were adjudged the best six volunteers for the semester.Other members of GRIPE attended the ceremony and presented some of their products.Some University officials with members of GRIPEGRIPE is an initiative led by industry players under the auspices of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and currently has Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana, Dow Chemical West Africa Limited, Fan Milk Ghana Limited, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Nestlé Ghana, PZ Cussons Ghana Limited, Unilever Ghana and Voltic (GH) Limited, as founding members.

Ghana

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The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages.

Coca Cola

Unilever 

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Guinness

<p>Founded in 2017, GRIPE is a project initiated by a coalition of eight multinational companies operating in Ghana with the common objective of contributing to the reduction of plastic waste. The solutions proposed will be based on the collection of plastic waste by means of containers with capacity development for waste pickers, second-life solutions, processing in new shredding and processing plants, research into solutions for behavioral changes, multi-stakeholder collaborations, education, public campaigning through conferences and digital national campaigns.</p>