Netherlands Embassy appreciates President Mahama’s visit to waste-to-energy facility

The Netherlands Embassy has expressed it appreciation to President John Dramani Mahama for his visit to the waste-to-energy plant site, in Ashaiman, on Wednesday, June 22, 2016.

The waste-to-energy project is under the Ghana-Netherlands WASH Programme (GNWP), based on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) construction with the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly as the public partner, which has provided the land.

“In the context of the GNWP the Netherlands Embassy supports this project with an investment of 1.3 million Euro, or 50% of the total investment. Safi Sana itself invests another 1.3 million Euro.”

This was in a statement issued in Accra on Thursday, June 23, 2016 and copied to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, (GBC).
 
The statement explained that “Local organic waste from the market, from the Tema slaughterhouses and faecal waste of the Communal Toilet Service Blocks in Ashaiman is collected and brought to this location where, through anaerobic digestion in a bio-digester, it is turned into electricity, biogas and organic fertilizers.”

It said the Safi Sana plant will be fully operational soon. Adding that “at the moment one tonne of waste is brought in every day; this will be increased to 25 tonnes per day in the coming months.”
 
It further said the Embassy considers this investment an excellent example of waste recycling and the role of the private sector in a PPP approach. 

Safi Sana Ghana has developed a business model that uses the waste to earn money from the production of electricity, biogas and bio-fertilizer. 

The electricity is sold to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), biogas will be sold to consumers and the bio-fertilizers will be sold to nearby farmers. 

Rather than polluting the environment, the waste is now turned into useful products that generate not only profits, but employment opportunities as well.
 
The Embassy firmly believes that business models and implementation by private sector actors are a proper and sustainable way to deal with the waste challenges in Ghana. 

Apart from the support to Safi Sana, the Embassy provides subsidies to 10 other ongoing PPP projects in Ghana to develop business models in Water and Sanitation. The statement concluded.

President John Dramani Mahama as part of “Accounting to the people” tour in the Greater Accra region, on Wednesday, visited the 'Waste-to-Bio' Energy Facility in Ashaiman.
 
GBC