Ghanaian govt seeks public-private partnership to fight indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste

By Omotayo Edubi

The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation has called for cooperation among private organisations to help control plastic waste.

The minister, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, while addressing the media after touring the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant on Wednesday, March 16, said, involving private entities will help build capacity to deal with these challenges.

“This whole recycling thing is actually the initiative of private industry and government does not intend to set up parallel systems to compete with them? Government is looking at capacity issues so that they can expand and deal with it. Government is looking at qualitative issues to fill in their gaps. Where the economic model will not make it attractive for somebody to pick.

“So, we are validating them on their field so that when we apply them, they will work and complement what is being done right now in terms of quality and capacity, and then of course special deployment. Because as I speak to you now, if you think that the urban areas are the only places that are washed with plastics, I would urge you to go to the north. It’s even worse”. He said.

On the other hand, the Executive Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Henry Kokofu described as a security threat the current environmental challenges facing the country, adding that there is a need for an attitudinal change among the citizenry to help fight the menace.

“We’ve reached a pinnacle where environmental issues have become security issues, and indeed global concerns, and we entreated their citizenry to come along with us. The attitudinal change that the Minister spoke about is very much needed. Segregation of domestic waste is very much on their plate and other sector ministries, and we are the agencies are ready and prepared to partner with the private sector to make Ghana cleaner”. He said.

In recent years, countries have been looking at more sustainable ways of living and how to save the planet from the dangers of human activities.

Approximately, 13 million tonnes of plastic waste, equivalent to one garbage truckload every minute, enter the oceans annually.

The Pew Charitable Foundation, on the other hand, estimates that the volume of plastics finding its way into the world’s oceans will triple by 2040.