Ghana government sets up levy to manage plastic waste
Government has set up a plastic levy to manage plastic waste in the country.
Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation( MESTI), addressing the media at the Meet-the-Press Series in Accra on Tuesday, said a bank account has been created at the Bank of Ghana for plastic importers and manufacturers to pay some amount towards recycling of plastic waste and general management of plastics.
He said a Resource Secretariat would soon be established, which would comprised representatives of plastic manufacturers, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the MESTI to implement the Plastic Management Policy to ensure sanity in the use of plastics.
He kicked against outright or wholesale ban of plastic bags, saying that it would not be prudent to so because of the important role some plastic materials played in the socio-economic development of the country.
“In managing plastics, we think that the wholesale ban will not be in the interest of the nation,” he emphasised.
He acknowledged that plastic products were not totally bad but their management was a challenge and there should be reasonable and sustainable mechanisms to manage it.
He said the new Plastic Management Policy would be grounded in five focal points, including attitudinal change, governance, and cross-sectoral collaboration.
He urged all well-meaning Ghanaians to support government’s efforts to make plastic waste management sustainable and profitable to the nation.
Source: GNA