Ghana overhauls e-scrap strategy

Ghana’s government wants to improve electronic scrap recycling efforts nationally to seize a ‘new economic opportunity’.

Murtala Muhammed, Ghana’s Minister-designate for Environment, Science and Technology, announced a new strategy for e-scrap management on 30 January. He says he intends to break the hold a few big players have on the recycling industry.

‘I intend to demonopolise the country’s waste management and engage local authorities and small and medium-sized enterprises.’ Doing so will create many jobs, increasing the volume of waste processed as well as  boosting recycling efficiency, he believes.

Bigger incentive

A recent survey found that younger people complain there are too few collection centres and they are inconveniently located. The age group also replaces their devices more often when compared to their elders, underlining the need for better recycling infrastructure.

Younger people are also more likely to own several devices, demonstrated by the fact that Ghana had 39 million registered mobile phone connections in 2024.

The consumer electronics market in Ghana, which has a population of 34 million people, is expected to top US$ 2.4 billion (EUR 2.3 billion) in revenue by the end of 2025. The number of actively used devices will increase 2.9% in 2026.

This  is prompting  the government to investigate whether people have enough financial incentive to recycle their old electronics. ‘If the money they receive is not encouraging, we may need to increase it to motivate them,’ Muhammed says.

His team is exploring available grants and funding sources to support e-waste recycling initiatives.