Existing Realities and Sustainable Pathways for Solid Waste Management in Ghana

Abstract

The demands of the circular economy and the sustainable development goals call for a critical appraisal of the solid waste management systems of developing economies to divert decision-making towards the development of sustainable strategies and support systems for purposes of modernization. This chapter uses a combination of literature review, network queries to key experts within municipalities, and the authors' experiences and outputs of an ongoing collaborative research to evaluate and present the realities of solid waste management and recycling in Ghana. The goal is to chart a locally appropriate and sustainable pathway to drive system improvement. The analysis and evidence suggest that structural and coordinated cooperation between researchers of higher educational and research institutions and municipal authorities creates an enabling platform to build human resource capacities, to bridge data gaps, to identify what works, and to drive decision-makers' commitment towards the development of realistic action plans and continuous policy strategies.