President of the Plastic Manufacturers Association of Ghana, Ebbo Botwe, has called on President John Dramani Mahama to have a broader conversation with the industry before enacting a ban on Styrofoam in Ghana.

On Thursday, June 6, President John Dramani Mahama revealed the government's plans to halt the importation and production of Styrofoam, locally known as 'takeaway packs.'

The initiative, he said, is to reduce the impact of climate change, protect the country’s forest cover, and reduce plastic waste in the country.

President Mahama stressed the urgent need to ditch Styrofoam for other materials, describing it as one of the most harmful pollutants.

“One of the most polluters is Styrofoam plastics, where you go and buy your food, and they put it in that whitish something, and you finish eating, you just dump it. That is one of the biggest polluters. And so, we’re going to ban the importation of Styrofoam plastics.

“We have to use paper packaging or aluminium foil for our food. I’m informing the manufacturers and importers of Styrofoam that the Ministry of Environment, soon we are going to ban the importation of Styrofoam and production of Styrofoam in Ghana,” he said.

But the Plastic Manufacturers Association of Ghana has acknowledged its impact on the environment but maintains that there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding Styrofoam.

He noted that the policy must go through a thorough process to ensure it doesn't have significant consequences for manufacturers, workers, and consumers.

“Let me try to clear up some misconceptions. The styrofoam that you see contains between 4% to 5% maximum plastic. The rest is air. It is basically air. It becomes more of an eyesore in terms of impacting the environment. We have a meeting with the Minister for Environment between June 16 and 20. We really want to give the minister a proper overview of the plastic industry so when the government want to initiate any programmes or any decision, he will be well informed,” he said.

The Ghanaian government has introduced various initiatives aimed at tackling plastic waste.

Although the government has made several attempts to address the sanitation crisis in Greater Accra, many of these initiatives have failed to achieve a lasting impact.

These efforts started in 2008 with a ban on plastic production and imports.

In 2011, a Plastic Waste Recycling Fund was established, and a 10% Environmental Excise Tax was levied on imported plastics to support recycling and waste management programs.

The government also introduced the National Plastics Management Policy in 2020, which seeks to manage plastic waste across its entire lifecycle and promote a circular economy for plastics.

Despite these measures, the issue of proper plastic waste disposal remains a significant challenge, exacerbated by low awareness regarding safe and sustainable disposal practices such as segregation, recycling, and controlled incineration.