Ghana charts road map to manage plastic waste

The Board of the Steering Committee of the Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) held its inaugural meeting in Accra yesterday to draw a road map that would help the country properly manage the disposal of plastic waste.

The NPAP is a public-private platform focused on tackling plastic pollution and is also geared towards developing strategies that will propel Accra to become the cleanest city in Africa, as envisioned by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The road map will help Ghana move into a circular plastic economy by restructuring the way plastic is produced, used and re-used.

Composition

The board is chaired by the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

It also has the Minister of Finance, the High Commissioner of Canada to Ghana, the President of Dow West Africa and the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Ghana as members.

Briefing the media after the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said the government was committed to establishing the necessary foundation towards ensuring sustainable plastic management practices in the country, as well as create jobs.

Target of 2020

He further disclosed that MESTI would, this year, work to ensure that the NPAP identified and accommodated Ghanaian innovations emerging in the plastic ecosystem.

He said the NPAP would also “support great initiatives from various resources, including financial and technological, that will enable the growth of new businesses, create jobs, while simultaneously cleaning the environment”.

“Ghana will soon have one of the most comprehensive policies on sustainable plastic management in the world,” he said.

Main priority areas

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said the four main priorities of the NPAP this year included supporting science, technology and innovative ideas, as well as mobilising investments to establish the required infrastructure for the recovery of plastics and recycling.

Additionally, he said, it would “collaborate with industry to develop an extended producer responsibility scheme to support communities with waste management and recycling infrastructure”.

“Of paramount importance, the partnership will be leading a nation-wide communication, educational and awareness-raising campaign to enable the public to understand the importance of sustainable plastic management and to learn practical ways that citizens can contribute to the government’s ambition of a plastic circular economy in Ghana,” he added.

Need for collaboration

The Managing Director of Nestle Ghana Ltd, Madam Philomena Tang, who is the Vice-Chairperson of the NPAP Board, said she was convinced that the committee would achieve its mandate.

For her part, the Director, Global Plastic Action Partnership, Madam Kristin Hughes, reminded the board of the importance of collaboration among key players in the sector, such as industry players, civil society organisations and development partners, if it was to succeed.

 She said all stakeholders would present different perspectives, “and it is that collection of ideas that will help propel success in the future”.

She said local engagement was absolutely important, adding: “It is very important that we focus on appropriate solutions and look at incentives and what they hope to achieve.”

Madam Hughes said the time was right for Ghana to lead in the global campaign, “and the time to lead is right now”, saying: “Considering the deliberations that have gone on, President Akufo-Addo’s ambitious agenda of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa is achievable.”