Ghana's Floods: The Hidden Story of Waste and a Linear Economy

Key Takeaways

• Rapid urban growth, undersized and unmaintained drainage, and weak management of solid waste contribute to Ghana's recurring floods.
• The country generates around 840,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, with only 9.5% collected for recycling.
• A circular economy approach can help prevent flooding by designing waste out of daily life and turning it into a resource.

The city of Accra has been plagued by flooding almost every year since 1935, with the 2015 flood killing at least 150 people. The scenes that precede each disaster have become a ritual, with traders lifting their goods off the ground, drivers hunting for higher routes, and families in low-lying areas watching the water climb toward their doorsteps.

The scale of the damage is set by a combination of forces, including rapid urban growth, undersized and unmaintained drainage, building in flood-prone land, and weak management of solid waste.

Background & Context

The floodwater carries the receipts of a linear economy, where materials are extracted, manufactured, consumed, and discarded. In this model, a water sachet is worth something only until the last sip, and food scraps, fabric offcuts, packaging, and broken household goods are treated as dead weight.

This approach has resulted in a staggering amount of plastic waste, with Ghana generating around 840,000 tonnes annually. Only 9.5% of this waste is collected for recycling, with the rest being buried, burned, dumped, or left to leak into the environment.

Key Findings

The World Bank's Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID) is a $150 million effort that aims to improve drainage and fix solid-waste management in the Odaw River Basin. The project's designers treated silted channels and clogged gutters as the same problem, rather than separate issues.

The project is a prime example of how a circular economy approach can be applied to prevent flooding. By designing materials out of waste and turning them into resources, the project can reduce the amount of material reaching the drain in the first place.

Broader Implications

A circular economy starts from the opposite premise of the linear model. It rests on three ideas: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible, and regenerating natural systems rather than exhausting them.

Applied to Ghana's floods, this approach means cutting avoidable single-use packaging and backing reusable alternatives. It means requiring manufacturers to design products that can be collected, repaired, or recycled instead of thrown away after one use.

Looking Ahead

The key to a circular economy is to create systems that people can rely on. Households and businesses need practical ways to separate plastics, organics, and residual waste. Communities need collection points they can reach. Municipal authorities need the trucks, financing, and partnerships to collect consistently.

By working together, Ghana can create a system that keeps most of the waste out of the water and turns it into a resource. This approach not only reduces the financial burden of flood control but also creates safer and more dignified livelihoods for waste pickers and other workers in the informal sector.