How education can enhance recycling success

From the newsletter

Ghana has launched an initiative that seeks to integrate e-waste management and recycling practices into the country’s technical and tertiary education curricula. Funded by the German government, the initiative aims to equip young people with sustainable waste management skills and create a structured recycling system.

• Education has been shown to be key in driving the behavior change needed for a circular economy. By embedding sustainability concepts into school curricula, students develop foundations critical to long-term systemic change.

• Education also plays a bridging role between the informal waste sector and formal green industries. By teaching practical circular economy skills in schools, African countries can build a skilled workforce, create green jobs and support the transition to structured, sustainable waste systems.

More details

• According to the E-waste Team Leader at the country’s Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Vincent Nartey Kyere, the initiative seeks to equip the young people with sustainable waste management skills and develop a structured recycling system.

• Three educational institutions Accra, Tamale and Ho have already integrated waste management content in their syllabi, with plans underway to expand to more schools.  The initiative is also offering short courses to informal waste workers.

• “We believe that when students are exposed to e-waste recycling early, they can develop the expertise and mindset needed to manage it professionally,”Dr. Kyere said.

• Ghana’s move to embed e-waste and recycling into technical and tertiary education reflects a broader shift: education is no longer seen solely as a social good, but increasingly as a foundational enabler of the circular economy. It goes beyond awareness—building systemic readiness by equipping young people with the skills to innovate, formalise waste sectors and lead sustainability transitions.

• This recognition is reinforced by global frameworks such as UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for 2030, which urges countries to embed sustainability at all levels of education. It promotes not just behavioral change but the transformation of knowledge systems, mindsets and skills needed for circular and sustainable development. UNESCO-UNEVOC similarly supports the integration of circular economy concepts into Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), with a focus on equipping learners with practical skills for sustainable industries.

• Across Africa, countries are increasingly integrating circular economy strategies into school curricula. Rwanda’s 2023 Circular Economy Action Plan and Roadmap highlights education and capacity-building as cross-cutting enablers—emphasising early exposure, public awareness and vocational training to scale up circular practices. 

• South Africa’s National Waste Management Strategy likewise advocates for embedding sustainability principles in TVET institutions. In Tunisia, the EU-supported SwitchMed programme incorporates circular economy learning into green entrepreneurship curricula across schools and universities.

• Still, the gap between policy ambition and implementation remains wide. While strategies are in place, few African countries have rolled out comprehensive programmes at scale. Curricula often lack sustainability content and educators may not be equipped to teach circular economy concepts effectively. This makes Ghana’s approach—linking policy support, foreign funding and formal integration into technical institutions—especially relevant and potentially replicable.

• That said, recent localised efforts suggest growing momentum and a shift toward implementation. In Nigeria, the government launched the Eco-Schools Initiative in January, piloted in Abuja to foster environmental stewardship among students. In Kenya, Edukans Kenya, in partnership with Kisumu National Polytechnic, is embedding green skills in the textile sector through the Wear the Green Future (WtGF) project. 

• In South Africa, Albany’s Collect-A-Pack programme aims to reach 900,000 learners across 500 primary schools with a recycling-focused curriculum, incentivised by infrastructure improvement awards.

• These programmes signal an emerging trend: African countries are beginning to treat education not just as a complementary tool, but as central to any long-term circular economy transition—embedding it in classrooms, workshops and schoolyards across the continent.

Our take

• Embedding circularity in education isn’t a quick fix—it’s a generational investment. If executed well, it could become Africa’s most powerful engine for a just and inclusive green transition.

• The growing momentum behind circular economy education signals a turning point in Africa’s green transition. By investing in the education of future generations, Africa can create a sustainable, green workforce equipped to tackle waste management challenges and drive systemic change.

• Ghana’s initiative to embed circular economy education sets a precedent for the continent. By integrating e-waste management and recycling into formal education, Ghana is not only fostering sustainability but also establishing a model for other African countries to follow in creating green, skilled economies.