By Muniratu Akweley Issah
Accra, Sept. 14, GNA – The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to tackle Ghana’s growing plastic pollution challenge.
The Authority said plastic waste continued to threaten communities, drainage systems, waterways and the coastal environment despite efforts through policies, regulations and partnerships.
Mr Hussein Kassim, Head of Projects and Resource Mobilisation Unit of the EPA, made the call at a stakeholders’ policy dialogue on plastic pollution in Accra.
He said the challenge required a coordinated approach linking policy to effective implementation, sustainable financing and collective action.
Mr Kassim said the dialogue, held as Ghana prepared to transition from Styrofoam products to biodegradable alternatives, provided an opportunity to examine gaps in existing interventions.
He said stakeholders would also consider practical measures that could deliver measurable results in the fight against plastic pollution.
“This is also the thinking behind the National Partnership for Clean Oceans, an initiative being advanced to provide a platform for stronger coordination and collaboration amongst stakeholders working to protect Ghana’s waterways, coastlines and oceans,” he said.
Mr Kassim explained that the initiative was not intended to replace existing interventions but to connect relevant agencies and stakeholders on a common platform.
Professor Nana Ama Klutse, Chief Executive Officer of the EPA, said plastic pollution and choked drains remained worrying, making environmental protection a collective responsibility.
She said successful implementation of measures to address plastic pollution required a multisectoral approach involving government, development partners, civil society organisations, the private sector, households, communities and markets.
“The use of plastics has become challenging and successful implementation would need the commitment of all,” she said.
Leonie Reese, Deputy Ambassador of the German Embassy, said plastic pollution was a global challenge whose effects were experienced locally through polluted communities, rivers, drainage systems, beaches and oceans.
She said Ghana’s decision to ban the production, importation, sale, distribution and use of Styrofoam products, popularly known as takeaway packaging, nationwide from January 1, 2027, was an important step in addressing single-use plastics.
Ms Reese said policies alone would not resolve the problem and stressed the need for data, research, innovation, sustainable financing, producer responsibility and behavioural change.
She advocated strengthening Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which would require producers to take greater responsibility for the environmental impact of packaging placed on the market.
Ms Reese also urged stakeholders to ensure that Ghana’s environmental policies were supported by international cooperation and adapted to local realities.
Hungary’ Ambassador to Ghana, Tamas Feher, shared his country’s experience with a nationwide deposit-return system for beverage packaging as a possible model for Ghana.
He said Hungary introduced a mandatory system in 2024, requiring consumers to pay a deposit on eligible plastic, metal and glass beverage containers, which was refunded when the empty containers were returned.
Ambassador Feher said more than five billion beverage containers were returned in Hungary by the end of 2025, with the annual return rate approaching 90 per cent.
He said Ghana could adapt the model rather than simply copy it, particularly by integrating the country’s large informal waste collection sector.
Waste collectors could become recognised collection partners, while shops and community-based organisations could operate collection points.
Ambassador Feher said such a system could reduce plastic leakage, increase recycling, create jobs and stimulate investment in the circular economy.
He said the Hungarian experience demonstrated that plastic waste could be transformed from an environmental burden into a valuable economic resource.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Muniratu Akweley Issah
muniratu.issah @gna.org.gh