Cleaning Africa's coastlines
Africa's coastlines are drowning in trash. We're building the systems to change that.
THE PROBLEM
This is not a dirty beach problem. It is a broken coastal system problem.
On many beaches across Africa, pollution is not an event. It is a condition.
Trash accumulates because the systems that should prevent it — waste collection infrastructure, stormwater management, public facilities, community resources — either don't exist or can't keep pace with the volume of waste entering the environment. Plastic waste, textile debris, and other discarded materials arrive through rivers, storm drains, and ocean currents, settling onto the same beaches where families gather, fishers work, children play, and marine life depends on a functioning ecosystem.
Volunteer cleanups help. But on severely polluted beaches, trash returns within days of being cleared. Without mechanized capacity to remove waste at volume, and without the infrastructure to intercept and manage waste before it reaches the shoreline, the cycle continues indefinitely.
When coastlines are overwhelmed, the damage reaches far beyond the sand. Marine ecosystems collapse under the weight of chronic pollution. Public spaces become unusable. Fishing livelihoods are disrupted. Tourism potential disappears. And the communities living alongside this reality are left to normalize what should never be acceptable.
Drain and runoff pressure
Much of the trash polluting Africa's beaches enters the ocean through rivers, storm drains, and unmanaged runoff — making interception as important as cleanup.
Polluted Shoreline
The waste visible on the beach before Mayekoo's operations begin reveals how severe the problem has become — and why volunteer efforts alone cannot keep pace.
Community Impact
The condition of the shoreline affects fishers, families, vendors, and every person whose livelihood or daily life depends on a functioning coast.
Our First Cleanup Project: 288 Metric Tons Removed from Labadi Beach, Accra, Ghana.
Mayekoo was created to help people support practical, community-led projects that improve lives and protect communities across Africa. Our work begins in Ghana, where we are partnering with local organizations, volunteers, and businesses to address urgent needs in education, health, and the environment.
Our first project began after Mayekoo co-founders Jean-Michel and Erik visited Labadi Beach in Accra and found large sections of the shoreline covered with discarded clothing, plastic, and other waste.
After speaking with people in the area, they began coordinating a response with local volunteers, Plant Pool, a heavy equipment leasing & operating company, and Zoomlion, a registered waste management company in Ghana.
At 6:00 a.m. on August 5, approximately 25 volunteers gathered at the beach to begin the cleanup. Community members joined the effort, while front loaders and 16 dump trucks helped remove waste that could not be cleared by hand.
Over the course of one week, the team removed approximately 288 metric tons (nearly 635,000 pounds) of waste from Labadi Beach. The collected debris was transported to a regulated disposal facility by Zoomlion.
This cleanup showed us both the scale of the challenge and what is possible when communities and committed partners work together.
It is only the beginning of Mayekoo’s work in Ghana and across Africa.
Join us as we support practical projects and the local organizations leading them.
A Long-Term Solution for Cleaner Beaches in Ghana
In our August 5 update, we shared what Erik and Michel encountered at Labadi Beach: large sections of the shoreline covered with discarded clothing, plastic, and other waste. Although volunteers and heavy equipment removed 288 metric tons of debris, the cleanup made something clear—one-time interventions would not be enough.
Mayekoo needed a reliable way to clean polluted beaches in Ghana and Africa more consistently and efficiently.
After researching available equipment, Mayekoo selected the Barber Surf Rake 600HD, a heavy-duty beach cleaner used to remove plastic, fabric, seaweed, and other debris from the sand. The machine can clean up to nine acres per hour along a seven-foot-wide path, collecting material in a three-cubic-yard hopper before it is lifted and emptied.
The beach rake was branded with the Mayekoo logo (with help from Erik and his daughter) and shipped from Baltimore to the Port of Tema.
The scale of the waste we later removed at Labadi Beach only reinforced why this investment was necessary. Volunteer participation remains an important part of our work, but mechanized cleaning allows Mayekoo and its partners to address much larger areas and remove deeply accumulated waste more effectively.
The arrival of the Surf Rake represents an important step toward building a sustained beach-cleanup program in Ghana.
Follow Mayekoo’s journey as we put the machine to work along Ghana’s coastline.
HOW MAYEKOO RESPONDS
From one-day events to coastal operating systems.
Mayekoo's beach cleanup work is designed from the ground up to go beyond awareness. We deploy mechanized operations — heavy equipment, industrial beach rakes, contracted waste management — to remove waste at volumes that manual effort cannot match. We coordinate with local partners to ensure collected waste actually leaves the site. And we invest in permanent infrastructure that gives each beach a structural defense against recontamination.
This is not a model built for one beach. It is a model built to scale across Africa's coastlines — starting with proof of concept in Ghana and expanding to every severely polluted coastal community where the need exists and a trusted local partner is ready to work.
WHAT YOUR DONATION FUNDS
Mechanized cleanup
We deploy bulldozers, wheel loaders, industrial beach rakes, and dump trucks to remove waste at a scale and speed that volunteer efforts alone cannot achieve. One mechanized cleanup operation removes what would take hundreds of volunteer hours to clear manually.
Coordinated waste haul-off
Collected waste is transferred to contracted waste management companies and removed from the site entirely. Trash that piles up near the beach is trash that returns to the beach. Haul-off is not optional — it is the step that makes cleanup permanent.
Community action and local ownership
We work alongside volunteers, students, and local organizations so that cleanup operations build visible community participation and long-term local investment in the coastline — not just a service delivered from outside.
Permanent coastal infrastructure
Our goal is to install the infrastructure that reduces pollution before it accumulates: public restrooms, sorting bays, waste bins, floating trash-arresting booms, and enclosures that intercept waste before it reaches the waterline. This is the difference between cleaning a beach and protecting one.
UNIT OF IMPACT
What your gift funds on the ground.
MONTHLY GIVING
A recurring gift helps Mayekoo respond after the next tide, the next rainfall, and the next buildup of waste — not just once, but as often as these coastlines need it.
Become a Monthly Supporter$10
Support ongoing field operations
Covers the day-to-day logistics that keep Mayekoo's work running.
$50
Power mechanized cleanup
Funds the heavy equipment work that volunteers alone cannot do.
$100
Help waste leave for good
Supports contracted haul-off so collected trash doesn't come back.
$150
Invest in coastal infrastructure
Helps fund booms, enclosures, and sorting bays that intercept pollution.
$250
Back the full system
Supports cleanup, haul-off, infrastructure, and community engagement together.
Custom
Give at your level
Every contribution builds the systems Africa's coastlines need.
PROOF OF WORK
We show the work. Not just the mission.
Every Mayekoo cleanup operation is documented with photos, field updates, and GPS-verified location data — so donors can see exactly where operations are running, what has been removed, and what comes next. Below is our current field record from Accra, Ghana — our longest-running and most documented coastal site, and the proof of concept for the model we're expanding across Africa.
Before photo
Before the cleanup
Typical visible waste accumulation and shoreline conditions.
After photo
Visible progress
Mayekoo’s beach rake & volunteers in action. Cleaner shoreline conditions during beach cleanup.
Operations snapshot
Labadi Beach progress
Map + location details
Labadi Beach cleanup site
Before photo
Before the cleanup
1,000+ tons of accumulated waste stockpiled & 33+ tons removed.
After photo
Work in progress
Active restoration underway with Mayekoo crews & volunteers, with further removal planned.
Operations snapshot
Chorkor Beach Progress
Map + location details
Chorkor beach cleanup site
Before photo
Before the cleanup
Accumulated waste and shoreline degradation prior to Mayekoo's intervention.
After photo
Visible progress
Restored shoreline conditions after cleanup by Mayekoo's mechanized crews and volunteers.
Operations snapshot
Ananse Beach, Nungua Progress
Map + location details
Nungua beach cleanup site
ABOUT MAYEKOO
We don't just fund beach cleanups. We help deliver them.
Mayekoo is a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity that works directly with vetted local partners to fund and help execute social impact projects across Africa.
On beach cleanup, that means we don't write a check and walk away. We coordinate equipment deployment. We manage haul-off logistics. We work with contractors, local organizations, and community volunteers to make sure the operation actually happens, waste actually leaves, and the results are documented and shared.
Every project Mayekoo funds and helps deliver is reported back with GPS coordinates and photos from the field — so you always know where your support went and what it did.
With Mayekoo, your gift supports:
- Mechanized cleanup operations that remove waste at scale
- Permanent coastal infrastructure that protects beaches over time
- Local partnership and community engagement built into every project
- Transparent field reporting so you can see the work happening
FAQs
Why use heavy equipment instead of just volunteers?
On severely polluted beaches, trash returns within days of being manually cleared. Mechanized equipment removes waste at a scale that changes baseline conditions over time — something volunteer effort alone cannot sustain.
Does Mayekoo own its cleanup equipment?
Yes. Mayekoo operates its own Barber HD 600 beach rake and tractor on the ground in Ghana. This means we can deploy faster, control operations more directly, and build a more consistent cleanup presence than organizations that rely entirely on hired equipment.
Is this work limited to one beach or one country?
No. Mayekoo's model is designed to scale across Africa's coastlines. We started in Ghana as proof of concept and are actively expanding to additional coastal sites where the need is severe and a trusted local partner is ready.
How will I know my gift is making a difference?
Every Mayekoo project is documented with GPS coordinates and photos from the field. We share updates as work progresses so you can see exactly where your support went and what it built
The tide brings more trash every day. So does our crew.
Support Mayekoo's coastal cleanup and infrastructure work today — and help build the systems that protect African coastlines for good.