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In Ghana, a businessman turns waste into new opportunities.
Glass is not commonly recycled in the West African country, but small factories turn broken bottles into new vases, glasses and bowls.
In the small town of Kurobo Odumase in eastern Ghana, glass waste is recycled into interior decoration.
The region is fast becoming the epicenter of glass beads and the emerging hot glass industry.
Michael Tetteh is believed to be one of Ghana’s only certified hot glassblowers, reviving a lost art and creating a local industry of handcrafted glassware.
By using only waste glass, from broken bottles to windows, Tetteh believes they are reusing tons of glass waste that would otherwise end up in landfills and landfills. .
“We are in a country that does not recycle glass.Apart from the bead makers and my colleagues who produce small beads in the industry, we cannot consume more. By crafting, you can consume more glass.” he says.
Tetteh, along with two other colleagues, was trained in glassblowing in the Netherlands and is one of the few who want to revive Ghana’s lost art.
His factory, staffed by Tetteh, his family and one female apprentice, produces dozens of glassware each day.
Little funding and a lack of support didn’t deter Tetteh from building this hot glass factory from scratch about a decade ago.
He helped design and build nearly all of the equipment and machinery, including the kilns and annealers used to heat and cool the work.
Tetteh now teaches his family, including his young son Caleb, the art of glassblowing.
He hopes his children will one day take over the art and business.
In the future, Tetteh hopes to build a modern glassblowing training institute where interested people can learn the art of hot glass.
“My plan is to build a glassblowing school here in Ghana because there are no art glass (schools) here in West Africa and here in Ghana.” he says.
Janet Offei Teyegaga is a mother of three and a disciple of Tetteh.
She prides herself on being ‘the only female glassblower in West Africa’.
“Blown glass is so amazing,” she says.
“We do a lot with it: vases, glasses, parish bowls.”
handcraft, A recycle shop that sells Tetteh glass products.
Esther Cobbah, CEO of Stratcomm Africa and owner of Hand Krafted, is thrilled to join Tetteh’s journey and sees the trend towards recycled and upcycled products.
“Broken glass can actually harm people, so we believe Tete contributes to environmental conservation and saves lives.” says Koba.
“He hires people to work with him, so he also creates jobs. I said yes.”
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