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Liati Wote community development – Report 5: Mounting the segregations waste bins

On the 16th of February 2019, a stakeholder meeting was held at Liati Wote to introduce the plastic waste recycling project to all the relevant stakeholders, and to officially kick start the Liati Wote Plastic Waste Recovery and Recycling Project.

This project is a comprehensive approach to plastic waste management with the goal to promote ecotourism through sanitation and empower the locals economically through recycling. During the meeting, plastic waste recovery was identified and explained to be the first activity which is primary to the success of the project.

Mounting the plastic waste bins in Liati WoteMounting the plastic waste bins in Liati Wote

To facilitate the waste recovery process, there is a need to develop a waste collection system to ensure waste is collected in an organized manner. Essential to this system is the siting of waste bins at vantage points in the community and along the trails of the tourist sites. It is also important to segregate the waste at source to improve the collection and ultimately enhance the other activities of the project.

Together with the local project committee, a two-bin segregation stand was designed with a display plate on top of the stand to create awareness about sanitation. The waste to be collected will be segregated into plastic bottles and sachets only and other types of waste like cans, food packs, etc.

Mounting the bins

Mounting the plastic waste bins in Liati WoteMounting the bins

Plastic waste bins in the village

On the 25th of October 2019, members of Liati Wote community helped to mount the segregation waste bins. The group comprised of tour guides, members of the project committee, other volunteers and the Project Manager (Wisdom Kpegba). A total of 15 segregation waste bins were mounted from the community centre, towards the tourist sites and along the trails of the mountain Afadzato and the Tagbo Waterfalls.

Although the exercise was difficult, particularly the mountain which stands at 885 meters with very steep slopes, the dedication and passion of the group is highly commendable as they were not deterred but successfully mounted all the 15 bins.

Pasting stickers on the bins

Waste segregation is not a common practice in the management of waste in Ghana, particularly in rural areas. To implement segregation, it requires going the extra mile to make people conscious of it. Therefore, there was the need to properly mark the bins. We designed and pasted stickers with clear pointers of the type of waste to put in a particular bin. The stickers had two inscriptions: ‘plastic bottles and sachets only’ and ‘others’. On top of the stand is a display plate and stickers with a variety of texts to sensitize users.

Pasting the stickers on the binsPasting the stickers on the bins

Signs on the bins in Liati WoteSigns on the bins

On the 27th of October 2019, the president of SSFA and managing director of Jolinaiko Eco Tours, Cindy Noordermeer Panou joined the people of Liati Wote during the Afadzato Festival celebration to officially launch the ‘Liati Wote Clean and Green Campaign’ as part of the project.

Also, the community together with the SSFA team is working to implement the other activities under the project such as wall paintings to sensitize people on sanitation and the implementation of the Green club in Liati Wote basic schools.

Wall paintings in Liati WoteWall paintings in Liati WoteWall paintings in Liati Wote

Although mounting the bins was successful, a major challenge identified is emptying the bins when full because at the moment, nobody is responsible for this activity. It is therefore important to put in a structure that will ensure the bins are emptied when full otherwise the purpose of the bins will be defeated. SSFA is working with the community and the tourism management board of Liati Wote to find a sustainable solution to address this challenge.

More info about this project can be found here:

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Our partner Jolinaiko Eco Tours - Travel and Tours through Ghana Togo Benin

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