The US Embassy in Ghana has warned that by 2050 there will be more plastic wastes in the ocean than fishes if Ghanaians do not properly manage plastic.
A post on the US Embassy in Ghana Facebook page stated that about 82% of Ghana’s plastics waste could be recovered and recycled with existing technologies into value-added products valued at GHC2 billion per year, creating 5 million jobs within the economy.
The embassy noted that less than 2% of 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste generated in Ghana every day are recycled.
It read: Did you know that over 3,000 tonnes of waste plastics are generated in Ghana every day – less than 2% is recycled? More than 250,000 tonnes, or 23%, of all plastic waste generated in a year in Ghana, are expected to flow into the Atlantic Ocean. By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight. Yet, 82% of Ghana’s plastics waste could be recovered and recycled with existing technologies into value-added products valued at 2 billion GHC per year, creating 5 million jobs across the economy. #EarthDay
Ghana is facing a huge challenge with properly disposing off plastics.
Plastic waste ranges from polythene bags, plastic water bottles, disposal cups and bowls etc.
Various media reportage indicates that 10 per cent of the environmental tax is imposed on plastic product producers and this has yielded close to GH¢1 billion, without a dime being released to manage plastic waste.
The stakeholders that deal with plastics are of the view that recycling was the best way to effectively deal with used up polyethene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
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