How do we rid ourselves of the plastic menace?

With effect from November 1, a government imposed ban on the manufacture and use of plastic below the 20 microns gauge will begin.

However, the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association (GPMA) has petitioned the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovations (MESTI) to reconsider the ban on light plastic materials with less than 20 microns on the set date.

The reason for the petition, according to the GPMA, was that it envisaged that the ban would deny most Ghanaians the opportunity of using a cheaper way of packaging their items.

Another concern of the plastic manufacturers is that a ban will affect the packaging of food items such as gari, sugar, groundnut and others.

We believe, though, that there could be other cheaper packaging materials such as paper if only we popularise their usage.

The GPMA also argues that the production of light plastic below 20 microns is not possible, while, in its view, a ban is no longer important