The Minister-designate for Environment, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has told Parliament’s Appointments Committee that she will channel funding to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to develop biodegradable alternatives to plastics from crops such as cassava and hemp.
She said Ghana had enough plant-based raw materials to support the development of an alternative industry instead of relying mainly on bans, restrictions and enforcement to deal with the plastic waste menace.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said the proposed research would help identify locally available materials suitable for producing alternatives to conventional plastics when she appeared before the Appointments Committee on Thursday, August, 27, 2026.
“What I believe can be done in addition to this is to channel some funding towards the CSIR, so that they can actually look into biological alternatives, for example hemp, for example cassava,” she told the committee.
We have a lot of plant produce that can be used to make plastic alternatives which can break down and don't actually persist in the environment, she added.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings was responding to questions from the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, about Ghana’s plastic waste problem.
She said the issue was one she personally cared about, describing herself as “actually very concerned about” plastic waste.
Her proposal comes as the government prepares to phase out polystyrene and other single-use plastics.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said a ban on polystyrene, which is widely used in Ghana for food packaging, was expected within the next six months.
She said officials from the sector have already briefed her on the plastic waste policy and added that a wider ban on single-use plastics was also planned.
She said the ban and the search for alternatives formed part of a wider approach to plastic and waste management, which required “an all-of-government, all-of-society” effort.
On concerns about landfill contamination raised separately during her vetting, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings called for landfill sites to have non-permeable bases to prevent toxic leachate from seeping into groundwater.
She also called for waste segregation to begin at the household and school levels to support composting and recycling.
