Caritas Ghana inaugurates e-waste collection centre in Tamale
Caritas Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), in collaboration with the Catholic Archdiocese of Tamale, has inaugurated an Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Collection Centre in Tamale to ensure proper disposal and recycling of e-waste in the Metropolis.
The Centre, supported by the French Embassy in Ghana, is aimed at ensuring efficient management of e-waste in an environmentally friendly manner and turn its environmental challenges into sustainable job opportunities for the youth.
Speaking at an inaugural ceremony, which also started the “Care for Our Common Home” campaign under the project, Mr Samuel Zan Akologo, Executive Secretary of Caritas Ghana, said the campaign sought to strengthen environmental awareness among members of the public on how to collect, dismantle and recycle e-waste products in orderly manner.
According to him, it also aimed at training unemployed young people to professionally handle e-waste generated within communities to create employment avenues for them.
Mr Akologo noted that “e-waste is mostly dismantled and recycled using methods that not only ruin the environment, but also seriously affected the health of residents”.
“It is in the light of this that the centre has been constructed to ensure that electronic waste, with the potential to pollute our environment, is handled and managed carefully for better living condition for everyone”, he said.
The Most Reverend Philip Naameh, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, lauded Caritas Ghana for the initiative and said “it had been established at an appropriate time, where the Catholic Church will celebrate the fifth anniversary of Laudato Si, which is themed: “Call to enhance care for our common home”.
He encouraged residents to send their malfunctioning electronic devices to the Centre for recycling, and urged them not to burn them, saying it could have adverse effects on their health.
Source: GNA