St Augustine’s College has emerged as the winner of the 2026 KAS Ghana and Catholic SHS/SHTS/TVET Plastic Waste Management Competition for the Southern Belt, after scoring 77 percent in the contest held in Accra.
Archbishop Porter Girls Senior High School placed second with 62 percent, while St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School finished third with 53.3 percent.
The competition, organised for Catholic second-cycle institutions by the Catholic Schools Ghana in collaboration with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Ghana office, is divided into two zones, the Northern and Southern belts. The Southern Belt comprises schools from the Greater Accra, Volta, Oti, Western and Central regions.
The schools that competed included St Augustine’s College, Bishop Herman College, Archbishop Porter Girls Senior High School, Holy Child Girls Senior High School, St Gregory Senior High School, Father Dogli Memorial Technical Institute and St Thomas Aquinas Senior High.
The initiative challenges students to develop innovative and practical solutions to plastic waste management while promoting environmental sustainability.
Addressing the gathering, the Country Representative of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Ghana, Anna Lena Sabroso Wasserfall, noted that civic education remains a key pillar of the foundation’s work, making environmental education an important area of focus.
According to her, KAS deliberately partners Catholic schools because young people are more receptive to environmental values and are better positioned to adopt sustainable practices that can influence their communities.
“We need to address people quite young. The younger they are, the better they get the message and begin to implement these values in their own lives,” she said.
She reaffirmed KAS Ghana’s commitment to supporting environmental education initiatives and nurturing innovative ideas that contribute to effective waste
management and environmental protection.
The General Manager of Catholic Schools Ghana, Mr Francis Batadjan said the competition aligned with the Church’s commitment to protecting creation and promoting responsible environmental practices.
He said improper disposal of plastic waste continued to threaten the environment, citing recent flooding incidents as a reminder of the consequences of poor waste management.
“When plastic destroys people, animals and plants, it is the earth that is being destroyed, and if our habitat is destroyed, where will we live?” he asked.
Mr Batadjan described the competition as “very, very impressive,” saying it had challenged students to develop practical solutions to plastic pollution.
E Green Living & Environmental Issues
He expressed the hope that entrepreneurs, manufacturers and other stakeholders in the plastics industry would partner with participating schools to provide financial support and help scale up promising projects into viable enterprises.
READ ALSO:MTN Business Equips SMEs with GH¢160,000 in Pitch Competition Support
He further urged students to see the competition as more than an opportunity to win prizes, stressing that its ultimate goal is to inspire positive behavioural change towards plastic waste management.
Among the products presented by the schools included eco pavement blocks made from plastic and other plastic materials for interior and exterior decoration.
