A first-year mechanical engineering student of Academic City University, Isaac Bayel, has won a $10,000 grant from the Rise Foundation to scale up a project that transforms Ghana’s plastic waste and invasive seaweed into biodegradable packaging.
Isaac, founder of the social enterprise Second Wave, said the support will help set up a small production site, purchase essential tools and extend the initiative to more communities across the country.
“This grant shows that homegrown solutions deserve support. My goal is to protect our people, clean our coastlines and prove that Africa can create its own climate solutions using what we already have,” he said.
Ghana is estimated to produce over one million tonnes of plastic waste each year, a major environmental challenge. The impact of climate change, including flooding worsened by plastic-choked drains, continues to threaten lives and livelihoods especially in coastal areas.
Isaac’s initiative offers a creative response to this growing crisis. Second Wave collects plastic waste and seaweed from beaches and polluted areas. With a special process, the team extracts a natural material from the seaweed and mixes it with plastic waste to make biodegradable film. This is then shaped into packaging products for food vendors, schools, and businesses.
The idea for the project came from Isaac’s childhood experiences and a life-changing visit to Antarctica.
“Growing up, I saw plastic blocking our gutters, causing floods, and even leading to deaths. In Antarctica, I saw melting icebergs and felt the full reality of climate change. It’s not far away, it’s happening now,” he shared.
Isaac further hinted that the Second Wave had received several partnership requests from coastal communities interested in training and support. The project also creates opportunities for young people in areas such as climate education, green jobs, and community outreach.
