Following on the successful construction of Africa’s tallest Christmas tree made from recycled plastics in Accra by Mckingtorch Africa, Geodrill Ltd has commissioned a Christmas tree for its Kumasi manufacturing base and in the local township. The international drilling services company has a manufacturing base in the Ashanti region and set up a waste segregation station on site for employees as part of its pledge to reduce environmental impact of its operations.
“It most certainly has encouraged employees to be conscious of their plastic use and recycling- creating a zero waste culture” Iddi Baah-Kurey, Head of Human Resources at Geodrill Ltd. explains.
“Being able to visualize the quantity of plastic we use as well as promoting its re-use value has been a source of excitement on site”. To ensure waste is sorted and collected correctly on site large decorative plastic collection points feature at the Geodrill base in Anwianwanta, near Kumasi. Over 2000 bottles were put to good use this year, with the used bottles from site being transformed into a glittering Christmas tree.
Creating festive 20” foot Christmas trees out of used plastic bottles is the brainchild of Makafui Awuku, an award winning artist and environmental entrepreneur. Since 2017 Awuku has led teams of volunteers to create upcycled plastic Christmas trees around Accra, each year the trees growing in size and complexity. This year Ashanti gets its first tree where it has been most well received. “The most powerful way to encourage people on this journey occurs when they can see waste they separate being turned into relevant items to them” Anwuku informed News Ghana. To share the message of recycling plastic and the spirit of Christmas, trees were built for the local community in the township near the Geodrill base.
An early backer of his projects has been Geodrill Ltd, who manufactures rigs for African terrain and operates a drilling training academy employing over fifty local employees. Geodrill Ltd. installed the first CNC cutting machinery in Ghana and has long been a pioneer in engineering achievements in Ghana. Geodrill prides itself on ensuring minimal environmental impact in its operations and has previously commissioned an innovative bus station out of plastic waste in Dzorwulu, Accra as well as 20” Christmas trees in previous years. They have pledged their commitment to continually further sustainability.