Recycled Plastics Initiative Creates Jobs for Youth in Bolgatanga

META Foundation's Recycled Plastics Initiative in Bolgatanga has trained 45 young men and women to collect, sort, and process waste plastic into durable paving blocks, fence posts, and storage containers. The initiative addresses two pressing challenges at once: rising youth unemployment and the growing menace of plastic pollution in urban and peri-urban areas of the Upper East Region.

Participants receive a three-month intensive training that covers collection logistics, shredding and moulding techniques, product finishing, and basic business management. Upon graduation, trainees are supported with start-up toolkits and linked to municipal assemblies and construction firms seeking affordable, locally produced building materials.

The programme has already diverted an estimated 12 tonnes of plastic waste from open dumps and waterways. "I used to see plastic waste as a nuisance. Now I see raw material and income," said 24-year-old Abdul-Razak Issahaku, one of the first graduates, who now employs two assistants in his small workshop. META Foundation aims to expand the model to Navrongo and Bawku by the end of the year.