Ghana – At its latest stakeholder forum, the Vice President of the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association (GPMA) Richard Odoom highlighted the need to legislate the use of more environmentally-friendly technologies, and specifically biodegradable additives. This will improve flexible plastic products such as carrier bags and water sachets, he insisted.
Coinciding with the event’s theme ‘Biodegradable Plastic Technology – An Answer to Plastic Littering in Ghana’, Mr Odoom urged the government to develop and implement an effective strategy framework as well as an action plan for the adoption of mandatory use of plastic additives in Ghana.
The technology has already been time-tested, he said, and has so far harvested ‘truly trusted results in many countries’, for instance in Brazil and Zimbabwe. This move should go hand in hand with efforts to educate the public about proper plastic waste disposal, Mr Odoom concluded.
Although introduction of these advanced plastics would add around 5% to total manufacturing costs, the long-term benefits would ‘far outweigh’ this initial expense, according to a representative of biodegradable additives dealer Wells Plastics Ltd.
The main objective of the forum was to reach a consensus among stakeholders, identifying legislative requirements and establishing a timeline for the nationwide use of the plastics technology, stated Johnson Oduro, Executive Director of the Society for Managing Initiatives and Leadership Enhancement (SMILE).
He expressed confidence that the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development would come forward with the laws giving biodegradable plastics technology the green light.
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