Assessing the impact of upcycling cocoa residuals for Ghana’s burgeoning building sector

We are thrilled to share that a Business Partnership Facility (BPF) project was showcased during an Accelerator session at the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) in Brussel, recognised as one of the world’s leading circular economy initiatives. WCEF gathered more than 2,000 forward-looking thinkers and doers and presented the game-changers in the circular economy.  

COCA, a Luxembourg architecture firm, partnered up with the Dutch Foundation Material Innovation Center (MIC) and a Ghanaian system builder, coordinating stakeholders on the ground. They reached out to the BPF to co-finance a technical and commercial feasibility study around the upcycling of cocoa residuals for the building industry in Ghana.  

Thanks to this facility, funded by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and implemented by LuxDev, Luxembourg and European companies have the opportunity to implement innovative projects with partners such as company, NGO, public entity, etc. in developing countries. These projects aim to tackle key societal issues essential for the development of the partner countries.

In that instance, the partnership focused on the transformation of cocoa by-products into eco-friendly partitioning wall systems and school desktops. LuxDev, COCA, and their project partners presented how the financial support from BPF has served as a catalyst for attracting further stakeholders’ interest. This interest has subsequently led to the creation of a MEC in Ghana dedicated to the development and marketing of the resulting solutions. Currently, negotiations are underway with first buyers in the Ghanaian market.