The glut of plastic waste in Accra, Ghana’s capital, is evident along the side of the road, with discarded bottles, plastic bags and the like. This same plastic wave has also affected the country’s once-pristine beaches. But an innovative project may be about to change that.

One Ghanaian has developed a solution by creating a product that would help clean up the city and provide an alternative to expensive building materials.

Nelson Boateng, the Chief Executive Officer at Plastic manufacturing firm Nelplast had been making disposable water sachets since 2013. But the disaster that struck Accra on 3 June 2015 made him re-examine his business.

A huge rainstorm caused a flood in the capital, that was exacerbated by plastic bags and plastic waste caught in the storm drains. People scrambled to dry space at a petrol station that caught fire, killing at least 250 people.

Government threatened to ban single-use plastic production as it was blamed for the incident.

Most of the blame was shifted to plastic bag manufacturers, and I felt very bad because I know I am one big contributor to that problem,” says Boateng.

“I had to find a way of dealing with the plastic in a more sustainable way, and that’s how we came about with the plastic bricks design,” Boateng tells Africa Calling podcast correspondent Zubaida Mabuno Ismail.

Boateng began working at the company as child, aged 13, to help provide for his family. After working his way up the ladder, he eventually bought the company in 2012.

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