Ghana is sitting on a US$47.9 billion opportunity. And it’s probably sitting right outside your gate.
That was the message from Ing. Glenn Kwabena Gyimah, General Manager of the Jospong Group’s Green Transition Office, at the World Environment Day 2026 National and African Climate Dialogue on Metro TV.
Speaking via Zoom, the engineer and climate action expert told participants that the country has spent too long treating waste as a dead end.
“In nature there is nothing such as waste,” he said. “A fallen leaf does not decay into nothingness. It becomes nutrients to the soil, food for the microorganisms, and life for the next generation of trees.”
But humans, he argued, chose the opposite path.
“We take from the environment, we make use of it, and we dispose it. That is a linear model that is breaking.”
Not rubbish, but ‘material in transit’
Dr. Gyimah, who has nearly two decades of experience across Ghana, China and Hong Kong, said Ghanaians need to change how they see their own trash.
He quoted definitions from the UN and other international bodies that describe waste not as useless, but as something that has simply lost its main purpose.
“What we call waste is not something that has lost its end value,” he said. “It is the beginning of opportunity when seen through the right lens.”
He pointed to the early morning workers most Ghanaians never see.
“Before the city fully awakes, even as early as 5am, thousands of people are already at work in our waste economy. Zoomlion sweeping streets. Door-to-door businesses knocking. Informal pickers at landfill sites.”
“From the same heap of waste, one person sees pollution, another sees material for recycling, another sees livelihood.”
Nearly US$48 billion on the table
Citing a 2026 study by ISSER at the University of Ghana, Dr. Jima said the waste sector could deliver up to US$47.9 billion in annual economic benefits by 2032.
“Waste is no longer a sanitation issue,” he said. “It is increasingly recognised as a resource stream with economic value.”
He listed six “gold mines” hidden in the country’s waste: organic waste for compost, plastics for manufacturing, e-waste for urban mining, used tyres for road construction, scrap metals, and non-recyclables that can be turned into fuel for industries.
According to him, the Jospong Group already has 16 plants across the country working on these areas.
Circular economy is ‘national resilience’
Dr. Gyimah did not mince words about what happens if nothing changes.
He mentioned illegal mining, pollution, flooding, plastic choking drains, and rising unemployment.
“Environmental degradation has far-reaching consequences on our water and food security, our public health, and long-term economic resilience,” he said.
“A circular economy model is not just an economic strategy. It is a national resilience strategy.”
He called for five key shifts: stronger policies on waste segregation, better infrastructure, use of digital tools and AI, financing that treats waste projects as investable, and formal integration of informal waste pickers.
The choice, he said, is simple
He urged a mental shift: from disposal to recovery, from waste management to resource management, from linear to circular.
“Ghana has the innovation capacity, the entrepreneurial spirit, and the human capacity to lead this transformation. Not only in Ghana, but in Africa.”
“The question before us is not whether the circular economy is possible. The question is how quickly we are willing to make it a reality.”
