SESA Recycling

Ghana's circular economy

PLASTIC WASTE AS A resource.

From a school-based recycling pilot to a scalable collection and recycling infrastructure - one bottle at a time.

Follow our journey

BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP

EDUCATION COLLECTION RECYCLING
Our journey · 2019 — 2027
  1. 2019-2020

    Starting the MVP with few public schools in Ashaiman

    We started our recycling journey with a pilot collection programme with 10 primary schools from Ashaiman, combining recycling education, incentives and bin distribution.

    Schools
    Awareness
    MVP
    SESA leading a recycling activity with school students in 2019 (1/4)
    SESA leading a recycling activity with school students in 2019 (2/4)
    SESA leading a recycling activity with school students in 2019 (3/4)
    SESA leading a recycling activity with school students in 2019 (4/4)

    1/4

  2. 2021-2022

    From pilot to city-wide collection

    We expand our network with first collection boxes deployed across Accra, purchase of a truck, expanding community network, and starting deliveries to plastics recyclers in Accra.

    160Tonnes
    collected during the year
    Partner logo
    UNDP - WRIC Challenge
    Church Recycling program
    Starting processing PET
    SESA collection boxes, community partners and raw material deliveries in Accra (1/6)
    SESA collection boxes, community partners and raw material deliveries in Accra (2/6)
    SESA collection boxes, community partners and raw material deliveries in Accra (3/6)
    SESA collection boxes, community partners and raw material deliveries in Accra (4/6)
    SESA collection boxes, community partners and raw material deliveries in Accra (5/6)
    SESA collection boxes, community partners and raw material deliveries in Accra (6/6)

    1/6Collection box to sort the waste at source and building a network

  3. 2023-2024

    Establishement of the collection centres and first PET export shipments

    SESA Recycling joined Transform Program, funded by UNILEVER and FCDO UK. The team grows and we open our SESA Recycling Centre at vantage points : Nungua (CFAO-Suzuki) and Ladma (GAYO). We process now the PET into bales and flakes and ship our first containers in Europe/Asia.

    Partner logoPartner logo
    Nungua and Lamda collection centre
    First export
    SESA Recycling Centre team, baled PET containers and a coastal collection centre (1/5)
    SESA Recycling Centre team, baled PET containers and a coastal collection centre (2/5)
    SESA Recycling Centre team, baled PET containers and a coastal collection centre (3/5)
    SESA Recycling Centre team, baled PET containers and a coastal collection centre (4/5)
    SESA Recycling Centre team, baled PET containers and a coastal collection centre (5/5)

    1/5

  4. 2025-2026

    New baling machines and fully digital integration

    With support of GEF fund we scale-up our activities with acquisition of new baling machines, expension in Winneba, starts construction of our future recycling factory. We also goes fully digital by connecting collectors, wallets balance, and database through our Sesa App to ensure tracability and increase engagement. 

    400Tonnes
    collected during the year
    Partner logoPartner logo
    New baling machines
    Fully digital
    Warehouse construction
    New baling machine in operation and the SESA mobile app (1/4)
    New baling machine in operation and the SESA mobile app (2/4)
    New baling machine in operation and the SESA mobile app (3/4)
    New baling machine in operation and the SESA mobile app (4/4)

    1/4

Our impact

Collection, year after year.

Quarterly collection volumes (tonnes)

Tonnes of PET recycled since our launch

1400 t

since 2020

6 t/m
22 t/m
38 t/m
Q1 22Q1 23Q1 24Q1 25Q1 26

0

PLASTIC BOTTLES RECYCLED · ALL YEARS

20 g/bottle · 1 icon ≈ 750,000 bottles

SESA team members wearing Zero Waste Accra shirts carrying a bag of collected PET bottles

Our impact so far

1,400T

Recycled

25

Jobs created

750+

Suppliers · 43% recurring

65%

Women · gender balance

350,000

People impacted

500+

Wastepickers involved

+220k€

Reward-for-recycling

100+

Schools, Churches and Mosques

FOCUS ON RECYCLING PROGRAMS

SCHOOL AND RELIGIOUS BODIES IN ACCRA

The journey continues.

Where we are going

Tripling our recycling capacity by 2028

With our new warehouse, baling machines and fully digital operations, we are building the infrastructure to grow from 400 tonnes a year to 1,200 tonnes of PET recycled in 2028.

  • Diversification : increase UBC collection / fishing nets (PA6)
  • Produce PET hot-washed and HD/PP flakes automotive-grade

Tonnes of PET per year

420 t
2026150k$ ESTIMATION
800 t
2027250k$ ESTIMATION
1,200 t
2028500k$ ESTIMATION
SESA Recycling warehouse with collection trucks and forklift
PET Recycling Factory under construction (Gomoah Fetteh), ready early 2027
New PET hot washing line
Complete with installation of a PET washing line