The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP) have opened discussions on potential cooperation in waste-to-energy power generation, smart urban lighting and electronic waste management to promote sustainable development and improve environmental management in Accra.

The two opened the discussions on Monday when a Chinese delegation led by the Chairman of the Board of CECEP, Mr Liao Jiasheng, called on the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, to assess investment opportunities and explore areas of cooperation with the city.

Welcoming the delegation, the Mayor said the city had significant infrastructure and environmental challenges that required practical investment and immediate action.

He stressed that transforming Accra would require moving beyond prolonged discussions to implementing concrete projects, adding that his administration was prepared to work with credible partners capable of delivering solutions in areas that directly improved the lives of residents.

Mayor Allotey said any partnership entered into by the Assembly should be structured to guarantee continuity beyond changes in political leadership, stressing that government was a continuous process and development projects should not be abandoned merely because administrations changed.

Presenting CECEP's areas of expertise, Mr Liao said the Chinese state-owned enterprise specialised in energy conservation, environmental protection, renewable energy and green infrastructure, with operations covering wastewater treatment, municipal solid waste management, solar and wind energy, energy storage, environmental remediation and smart city solutions.

He said one of the key areas proposed for cooperation was waste-to-energy power generation, explaining that CECEP currently operated 69 waste-to-energy plants in China and possessed proprietary grate-furnace manufacturing capabilities.

He said the company was prepared to explore with the AMA the development of facilities that could process municipal solid waste while generating energy, adding that CECEP also had financing capacity and could integrate artificial intelligence into waste-management processes to improve efficiency.

The Director of Waste Management at the AMA, Mr. Solomon Noi said waste management remained one of Accra's major challenges, particularly because organic and inorganic waste were frequently mixed at the point of generation.

He said the Assembly had consequently intensified public education on two-way source separation involving wet and dry waste and was receiving support from the African Development Bank towards the establishment of a composting plant, while other partners were assisting efforts to secure anaerobic digestion facilities to convert organic waste into biogas and other useful products.

The Waste Management Director, however, stressed that any proposed technology would have to meet strict environmental and emissions standards, noting that Accra's membership of the C40 Cities network required the Assembly to maintain high environmental safeguards, particularly in relation to flue gas emissions.