The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng says Ghana will soon resume collecting plastic levy from importers of plastic products.
Prof Frimpong Boateng said the levy which is paid by importers of plastic products will help finance the management and impact of plastic.
It is believed that the current poor collection, management, and utilization of the fee has contributed to the government’s inability to deal with the plastic menace in Ghana.
According to Prof Frimpong Boateng said this will be reversed when a law is passed to handle to manage the plastic products. He added that the law when passed must favour all stakeholders.
“We have revived what we call the plastic levy. We are working on it but there are some difficulties with the law which are being managed now. When the law is established and the waste and monies start coming in, we are all going to benefit and assist you.”
“The difficulty we have in this country is that, although we don’t have many recycling industries, we have enough to be able to recycle the plastic that we collect. But the difficulty is the collection and transportation. If we are able to solve that then we will go a long way in helping ourselves with plastic management,” he added.
About plastic waste management levy
The government introduced the plastic levy as part of efforts to curb the problem of plastic waste in the country. Importers of plastic products would be made to pay a particular amount of money towards the management of plastic wastes.
This will be run by the Plastic Levy Fund Authority
When established, the Authority would partner with research institutions specifically the Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
A percentage of the levy funds would be allocated to fund research in finding ways to add value to plastic waste as a resource.
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