Glass Upcycling Project at Kokrobitey Institute

Story

Glass bottles are abundant and have traditionally been recycled into glass beads. However, with Accra’s growing population, the number of bottles has increased significantly, leading to many of them not being upcycled or reused, destroying our natural habitat.

Inspired by a thriving green glass business in Argentina, we have discovered that with modest equipment, glass bottles can be cut, polished, and slumped producing drinking glasses, vases, serving trays, and jewelry pieces. This simple model can be easily replicated in small communities across Ghana. With additional printing equipment, these items can be personalized and sold to restaurants, hotels, events, and serve as tourist items. It is a market yet untapped that can provide viable employment and contribute to the process of building a culture of upcycling. The Kokrobitey Institute has spent the last year creating samples of products and with capital input, we are prepared to enter the market.

The long-term goal of the Glass Upcycling Project (GUP) is to train young people to learn the process of overseeing an independent production unit for upcycling glass. Trainees would learn to fabricate products such as jewelry, and other accessories, vases, cups, lampshades and other household products.

This sustainable model will create an income-generating green business, that will have a positive impact on the life and wellbeing of the community; demonstrating the relationship between ecology and the economy. It will provide jobs and support our educational objectives of expanding our sensibilities that literacy is not confined to the ability to read, write, and comprehend the written and spoken word, but rather should extend to how we value and care for our natural environment.