Finding sustainable solutions to the increasing waste generation in Ghana has received a lot of attention in recent years. Through several waste-to-energy processes, the energy potential of municipal solid waste has recently witnessed significant technological advancements. The Renewable Energy Master Plan has projected the production of about 122 MWp from waste-to-energy installations by 2030 in Ghana. To help policymakers and engineers achieve national goals, this paper reviews the waste generation in Ghana estimated from 2010 to 2030 and the status of various bioenergy technologies in Ghana. This paper further estimates the energy recovery potential of municipal solid waste in Ghana under incineration, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery technologies. The review establishes that, by 2030, municipal solid waste generation will increase by 123% of the 2023 quantities and may produce 1484.25 MW of installed electricity capacity and 13,002.03 GWh per year, which would amount to nearly 59% of Ghana’s 2030 renewable energy target. Additionally, it was determined that anaerobic digestion, incineration, and landfill gas recovery technologies, when properly developed, will add 105.33 MW, 301.4 MW, and 377.31 MW of installed electrical capacity, respectively, to Ghana’s energy mix in 2028.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a sustainable method of treating organic waste to generate methane-rich biogas. However, the complex lignocellulosic nature of organic waste in most cases limits its biodegradability and methane potential. This review evaluates pretreatment technology to optimize AD performance, particularly in developing countries like Ghana, where organic waste remains underutilized. A narrative synthesis of the literature between 2010 and 2024 was conducted through ScienceDirect and Scopus, categorizing pretreatment types as mechanical, thermal, chemical, biological, enzymatic, and hybrid. A bibliometric examination using VOSviewer also demonstrated global trends in research and co-authorship networks. Mechanical and thermal pretreatments increased biogas production by rendering the substrate more available, while chemical treatment degraded lignin and hemicellulose, sometimes more than 100% in methane yield. Biological and enzymatic pretreatments were energy-consuming and effective, with certain enzymatic blends achieving 485% methane yield increases. The study highlights the synergistic benefits of hybrid approaches and growing global interest, as revealed by bibliometric analysis; hence, the need to explore their potential in Ghana. In Ghana, this study concludes that low-cost, biologically driven pretreatments are practical pathways for advancing anaerobic digestion systems toward sustainable waste management and energy goals, despite infrastructure and policy challenges.

The use of antibiotics is widespread throughout the world, and Ghana is not an exception. They are one of the most frequently prescribed medications. Antibiotic residue concentrations are rising in the environment and are found in practically all water bodies, including lakes and rivers, because of inadequate management of residential and medical wastes. Contrarily, there is a substantial chance of medication toxicity and resistance. Therefore, removal of these pollutants from water bodies is essential, yet conventional wastewater or water treatment methods frequently fall short of efficiently removing these chemicals. Antibiotics will be used as a case study in this chapter to discuss the concentration of pharmaceutical pollutants in the environment, specifically in Ghanaian waterbodies, and risk evaluations of these pollutants. Additionally, this chapter will look into the possible removal technologies report and establish the present investigation on removing these pollutants with microplastics.

Coconut shells are used as precursors for preparation of activated carbons. The shells could vary in terms of their maturity. The influence of the maturity of the shells on gold adsorption efficiencies of derived activated carbons (ACs) from gold di-cyanide solution was investigated. The shells were pyrolysed at 900 ºC and the resulting chars were activated in steam at the same temperature for different durations. Assessment of the properties of the derived ACs revealed that; the hardness, gold adsorption capacities and rates of gold adsorption of the ACs depended on the maturity of the shells. The more matured the shells the harder the AC. The relative hardness and gold adsorption rates of the mature coconut shells activated carbons, HMand RM, respectively and those of the less mature shells, HLand RL, respectively were in the order of HM >HL and RM >RL. The relative hardness of the ACs derived from the more mature and less mature shells after 3 hrs activation were 99.3% and 94.0%, respectively and the gold adsorption rates were 5.78 mg Au/hr/gand 4.95 mg Au/hr/g, respectively. The adsorption rates and relative hardness depended on the duration of activation, where longer activation times resulted in increase in the adsorption rates and a decrease in relative hardness of the derived ACs. Keywords: Adsorption, Activated Carbon, Coconut Shells, Maturity, Relative Hardness