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ghana, an african coastal nation of over 30 million people, is a perfect destination for westerners –– especially those tracing their roots. yet, the cost of living in ghana is higher than most arrivals may expect. one of the main drivers for the high real estate prices is the expensive cost of building materials.

what if there was a solution that doesn’t only provide affordable housing, but helps to protect the fragile environment which is already vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change?

nelson boateng, founder and chief executive officer of nelplast eco ghana limited is a young ghanain entrepreneur, a leading voice that is repurposing and diverting tons of plastic waste from landfills and oceans into affordable building materials for the construction of low-cost houses in ghana.

“when the collected plastics are brought to us, we scale and pay the collectors according to the weight. the plastics are crushed, washed semi-dried and mixed with sand and sometimes, pigments to add beauty. the mixture is then fed into an extruder with 3 heating zones, which we build ourselves. since we are using all kinds of plastic waste at their right proportion, these plastics have different melting points. as they travel through the extruder, let’s say starting from 150 degrees celsius, 180 to 220 degrees celsius, the heating zones ensure that all kinds of plastic waste is well melted and mixed with sand. this mixer comes out as a paste, which is placed in a mold with a cooling system around it and then pressed under hydraulic press. between 60 to 70 seconds, we eject one product out depending on the size and shape of the product. this product would then be packed on the palette and ready to be installed. nelplast echo plastic houses are 30% to 35% cheaper than the concrete buildings that we have, and most of our clients are happy with our projects.”

for the longest time, plastic has been the material of choice for different kinds of packaging due to its lightweight, affordability and ease of use. however, the long run consequences of easy packaging on the environment are far reaching. according to a recent undp report, ghana generates over a million tons of plastic waste every year and only 2% to 5% of the plastic waste is being recycled, and project drawdown reveals that recycling could help reduce our carbon footprints by 2 gigatons come 2030. yet, more and more concerns on the negative effects of plastic use on health, raises questions on whether there are any negative impacts of living in a house constructed from plastic waste! and how solid and resilient are these structures to natural disasters? 

“nelplast bricks are not laid with cement. they are interlocked with each other and due to that nature, they are able to contract and expand when there’s uncertainty on the earth. it can also withstand earthquakes because the walls are not rigid. they have the ability to be flexible when there is any earthquake. also in terms of cracks, the wall with plastics doesn’t crack so easily. the bricks are cheaper and stronger than conventional bricks. they can withstand water lock areas and also avoid dampness to the walls. they are safe in terms of fire, because the high percentage of the sand makes the product fire retardant. it’s not easy for these bricks to just get burnt. the bricks are designed in such a way that there is a groove in the middle of the brick that heat from outside to penetrate into the inner part of the room and also maintain the temperature of the inner part of the bricks.”

reduce, reuse, and recycle! this is the recommended way of life that boateng is actively working to promote in his home country – ghana. nelplast eco ghana limited, born out of frustration with the disturbing amounts of plastic waste continuously buried in landfills is an initiative committed to rid the country of the gulf of plastic waste that is polluting the environment and water bodies, while securing economic opportunities for the unemployed youth in ghana.

“we have the problem of plastic waste, the problem of school infrastructure, housing deficit and  unemployment. nelplast is trying to use the problem of plastic waste to build affordable houses and solve the problem of housing in ghana. build schools, create jobs for unemployed youth to reduce social violence and clean the environment. currently, nelplast employees 63 workers directly and over 300 indirect workers and 98% of this indirect workers are women who go around the landfills, drainage and beaches to collect plastic waste and sell to us – and that’s how they earn their living.”

boateng’s drive to save the environment from plastic pollution does not go by unsupported or unnoticed. 

“we won ghana uk based achievement award as innovation and technology of the year; emy africa – the green corporate star award; african product and service award; ghana property award as best echo construction product; ghana industry award; seed low carbon award and the business executive excellence award.” 

however, his ability to scale the business is confronted by many challenges.

“ghana has a lot of challenges and one of them is the cost of electricity. there are no subsidies for recyclers in ghana and that is really discouraging others to join the line. i have passion with plastics because at the age of 13 i was already working with the plastic industry. i did computer network engineering but my passion is how to deal with plastic waste. also, because of our capacity issues we get a little bit scared of accepting more contracts. a lot of people are calling who want a house, but the problem has to do with our capacity. so because of that, this year we are handling only 15 clients, next year we can add on. if we can have subsidies from the government on electricity bills, soft loans to help us expand, i think it will go a very long way.”

a recent world bank report projects that waste will grow from 2 billion tonnes in 2020 to nearly 3 billion tonnes by 2050, and the effects may be more adverse for developing countries, where more than 90% of trash is either dumped in the open or burned, worsening the climate crisis. as many look forward to the un international climate conference – cop27 – just around the corner, boateng is curious to know where plastic pollution fits in the conversations.

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[editor’s note: this transcript was edited for clarity.]

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correction (9/7/2022): an earlier version of this story misidentified where in africa ghana is located. this version corrects it.

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all sources are listed, additional footage provided by pace ghana.

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in a historical context, the charter of indian forestry (1855) offered a model for imperial environmentalism under the british empire in africa in which colonial governments were bestowed the power to seize land that was not otherwise privately owned. (kashwan, 2021, p. 5-6) this toxic relationship between the global north and global south persists today through our globalized economy. for example, ghana is the largest gold producer on a continent that supplies 40% of the world’s gold. (al jazeera, 2022) at the same time, global justice now has reported that african countries in 2015 received $162 billion in foreign aid while $203 billion was extracted from the continent, either directly from multinational corporations or by costs necessary for climate change adaptation (mcveigh, 2017).

extractive economies that reinforce these oppressive systems of command and control have been imprinted into the head spaces of the ruling financial and political elite as the end-all, be-all solution to improving quality of life for humanity. due to these cultural setbacks, youth leaders and advocates around the world are frustrated about the lack of action their governments are taking on climate change. one such group in ghana has been incredibly active in terms of transitioning local and regional economies and communities to more sustainable mechanisms and relationships between people and the planet. 

founded in 2014, green africa youth organization (gayo) pursues a holistic path to mobilize and engage youth voices in ghana in order to challenge climate change and introduce a circular economy to the region. i had a conversation with betty osei bonsu, who is a project coordinator based in accra, about the work she does with gayo. their vision is to achieve environmental and economic sustainability through youth empowerment, skills development, and public education. gayo champions several initiatives that follow these thematic areas including climate change disaster risk reduction and circular economy. in tandem with the 2030 sustainable development goals, these initiatives encourage a multi-pronged approach to climate action and normalization of sustainability in local and regional economies. gayo refers to itself as a gender-balanced organization, in alignment with goal 10: reduce inequality within and among countries. gayo not only pushes for women leadership in environmental spaces, but also seeks to enhance inclusion within waste recovery and management.

the sustainable community project (scp) is meant to establish a zero-waste model for waste management led by community members within ghana. established in accra, cape coast, abuakwa, and pioneered from the ashanti region, edubiase in 2016, this project focuses on several waste-to-value initiatives including: composting, recycling arts, and charcoal briquette. composting is important to a sustainable community because it provides organic fertilizers within towns that can be sold to people within the community for better organic crop yield. meanwhile, recycling arts offer training to create items that can be sold and be reused for the creator or their family. additionally, charcoal briquettes are a biofuel meant to be a sustainable transitional energy source that is substituted for firewood. this work started as a pilot program in cape coast, but expanded into a full initiative in the adansi south district of ghana. these three areas of value addition are meant to establish circular communities by working with media outlets, activists, and local organizations/assemblies to implement this project throughout ghana and beyond. the main objectives for the sustainable community project are to divert waste from landfills, support the works of waste pickers while building community capacity, and promote revenue generation through upcyling what would otherwise be thrown out. ms. bonsu mentioned that the initiative offers other opportunities such as the creation of green jobs and green jobs training for alternative livelihood while maximizing resource recovery so that small-scale waste can be re-purposed and sold as sustainably-sourced products. waste pickers play a major role in the scp as they recover most of the waste. thus, gayo supports them by advocating for their rights, integrating them to work in coordination with the assembly, and providing them with necessary resources.

furthermore, the circular economy project is also focused on training youth, and fostering development so they can act as ambassadors for various gayo initiatives. following this, they have organized over 300 youth individuals within universities through the gayo ecoclub chapters. this is a student-led movement envisioned to raise future climate leaders and young ecopreneurs, create awareness on environmental protection, and increase the employability of youth through professional working experiences. gayo is also building the capacity of these students by pushing for the creation of environmental courses and initiatives through partnership with other institutions and community engagement activities. as a result, students and emerging professionals are able to learn more about climate change and the circular economy while making an impact in their communities.

meanwhile, the youth climate council provides a platform for youth-led individuals and organizations to gather actionable suggestions and to come together as a centralized power to pitch concerns they have to the government. the youth climate council was established by green africa youth organization and its independent partner, youth climate lab (ycl), and with institutional backing from the international development research centre (idrc). i found this project particularly compelling after learning from ms. bonsu that, in her own words, “[people] in the global south…are faced with a situation where youth do not have voices in decision making, are not being represented in government [and] are not included in the formation of climate policies.” a significant part of gayo’s mission is to empower and engage youth throughout the country and the world around comprehensive climate action, environmental education, and community-centric programs.

the youth climate council is a unified climate youth movement which amplifies youth voices and creates opportunities for young climate activists in ghana. the council is embedded within the ministry of environment, science, technology, and innovation, working hand-in-hand with the environmental protection agency ensuring a direct connection between youth and government, and vice versa. the youth climate council’s priority is to provide services to strengthen activism and the impact of its members.

betty went on to say that, “because of this platform, we were able to attend cop26 in order to highlight gayo and other youth experiences in ghana ” around climate action and environmental awareness. following this year’s cop 26, the ghana government pavilion was utilized by gayo and its partners to host capacity-building webinars and events for youth, while sharing initiatives and climate interventions carried out by youth climate activists, organizations, and institutions in the nation. government institutions providing platforms, and the autonomy to decide what actions should be taken, center the perspectives of youth leaders rather than perpetuate archaic systems that are damaging to people and the planet. 

climate action demands intersectional, multi-generational collective action. even though the majority of ghg emissions and environmental degradation has been caused by the generations before us, it is up to youth voices, organizations, and movements to strive for a more sustainable and ethical future. gayo is one such organization achieving this feat in real time, with betty osei bonsu representing ghana and gayo at cop26 calling the world to action. global north countries and institutions, and its respective government entities, need to pass the microphone to leaders such as betty that are already transforming our relationship to the environment while also finding economic opportunities in alignment with environmental justice and sustainability. 

sources

al jazeera staff. 2022. mapping africa’s natural resources. al jazeera. 

bonsu, betty osei. (2021, november) personal communication [personal interview]. 

kashwan, prakash, et. al. 2021. from racialized neocolonial global conservation to an inclusive and regenerative conservation. environment. 63:4, 5-6.

mcveigh, karen. 2017. world is plundering africa’s wealth of ‘billions of dollars a year’. the guardian. 

dive deeper

gayo joins inaugural plastic action champions – green africa youth organization

ghana hosts first local conference of youth in climate change | wundef.com

are you an entrepreneur? apply to join the founder institute ghana and gayo fellowship. – green africa youth organization