When Katia Osei, Head of Environmental Justice at The Or Foundation, took the stage at this year's TEDx Accra, she stood in front of letters cut from recycled Kantamanto clothing waste, on a rug made from the same source; tangible proof of the circular solutions she advocates for.
When Katia Osei, Head of Environmental Justice at The Or Foundation, took the stage at this year’s TEDx Accra, she stood in front of letters cut from recycled Kantamanto clothing waste, on a rug made from the same source; tangible proof of the circular solutions she advocates for.
TEDx Accra organisers Jesse Gyau Kusi and Klenam Fiadzoe set out this year to rethink not just the ideas shared on stage, but also how the event itself was built. In a city increasingly confronted with flooding and polluted waterways, they saw an opportunity to spotlight local solutions and put circular innovation into practice, rather than simply talk about it.
TEDx Accra partnered with The Or Foundation, an Accra-based NGO working in solidarity with the Kantamanto Market ecosystem, to create alternatives to conventional event materials.
The collaboration transformed discarded clothing from Kantamanto into the event’s stage letters and rug, while denim waste from the market was upcycled into limited edition tote bags.
In addition, The Or Foundation put their recycled PA system to use; a full unit of colourful speakers was also made from recycled textile waste.
The red “TEDx” letters framing the stage were produced at The Or Foundation’s Material Technology and Transformation Lab (MTTL) in Old Fadama using Cassaboard, a recycled biocomposite developed from post-consumer clothing waste recovered from Kantamanto Market and cassava-based binders, a locally abundant agricultural resource.
The resulting material is durable, mould- and fire-resistant, and offers superior sound absorption, with potential applications ranging from interior building panels to furniture and other acoustic products.
The letters alone represent approximately 20 kilograms of single-use T-shirts that would otherwise have remained unsold or ended up as waste.
The rug was made from Tarnty, a circular yarn developed by The Or Foundation from discarded T-shirts after identifying them as one of the most common types of unsold garments in Kantamanto.
This is because secondhand clothing is shipped from the UK, Europe, China, and the USA, where single-use T-shirts sourced for sporting events, conferences, concerts, marathons, hen dos, and other personal celebrations are a consistent source of waste due to both overproduction and unwanted consumption.
Each ball of Tarnty is made from one T-shirt and can be used for knitting, crochet, weaving and other crafts.
The production process itself is designed around local circularity. The technology used to manufacture Cassaboard was designed and built in Ghana, primarily from recycled metal and e-waste, demonstrating how discarded materials can become inputs for new forms of local manufacturing.
The collaboration extends beyond the stage itself to include a circular approach to event merch that uses waste instead of creating it.
The Or Foundation produced limited-edition TEDx Accra tote bags upcycled from denim waste sourced in Kantamanto, with proceeds supporting The Or Foundation’s Secondhand Solidarity Fund.
The fund provides debt relief to retailers burdened by unsellable bales, as well as emergency assistance, including fire relief and healthcare support.
Events—from product pop-ups and concerts to fashion shows and conferences—often generate significant amounts of waste through temporary installations, branded merchandise and materials designed to serve a single occasion.
TEDx Accra and The Or Foundation are challenging that model by asking a different question: What if event infrastructure were designed for its next life from the beginning?
Rather than allowing the stage letters and rug to sit in storage or become waste after the event, TEDx Accra is working with The Or Foundation to make the recycled stage set available to organisers of TEDx events across West Africa.
The next test will be whether the infrastructure connecting neighbouring cities and countries can make the circulation of these materials as affordable and accessible as it should be.
For The Or Foundation, the project is an example of how events can become opportunities to demonstrate—not simply discuss—different approaches to material use, waste and local production.
““Waste” immediately inspires a messy, ugly visual that MTTL is successfully debunking with its work. To us, this is an example of transforming what is usually dismissed as worthless rubbish into a beautiful, colourful, and functional material for everyday use.
“We are manifesting the possibilities, every day, one board and one ball at a time,” Kennie MacCarthy, Assistant Manager, MTTL.
“Bringing a piece of Kantamanto onto the TEDxAccra stage was our way of highlighting the work by the Or Foundation, showing physical evidence of what’s possible, proving that waste is simply a resource waiting for imagination, and that circular design should be our industrial standard,” Klenam Fiadzoe, Co-organiser, TEDxAccra.
The journey of the TEDx Accra stage set does not end with the event. Follow The Or Foundation and TEDx Accra on Instagram to see where the letters and rug travel to next and to learn what it takes to get there.
