Let’s treat waste as resource— MESTI  

Mr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), has called for waste to be treated as resources.  
He said there were companies that relied on waste to manufacture other products through recycling.  
Mr Afriyie made the call on the sidelines of the donation of some 38 tricycles by the Nestlé Ghana Limited to the Pure Water Waste Collectors Association through the Ministry. 
The Minister said the companies were creating value out of what was previously regarded as waste. 
He said the whole environment was littered with plastics and said there was a policy to recycle plastics, which the Ministry had endorsed because when plastics got into the value chain, they contaminated the food web and everything. 
‘‘We have a value chain system mostly driven by the public sector and Nestlé has been over the years very supportive, very responsible as a corporate entity,’Mr Afriyie stated. 
The Minister announced that the last Cabinet had discussions on plastics and that there would be many visible programmes that the Ministry would run next year. 
He assured that the Ministry would monitor the tricycles to get value for money from Nestlé Ghana’s investment in the Association. 
Mr Georgios Badaro, Managing Director, Nestlé Ghana, who presented the keys to the tricycles to the Ministry, said the donation was part of its numerous supports to the MESTI. 
He said the tricycles were to help the plastic waste collectors collect waste for recycling. 
Mr Elvis Oppong, Chairman of the Pure Water Waste Collectors Association, expressed appreciation to the Ministry and Nestlé Ghana for the support. 
He promised that the Association would use the tricycles for their intended purposes. 
GNA