The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation is taking steps to fully enforce the laws governing the production and use of plastics in Ghana.

The sector Minister, Mahama Ayariga said his Ministry is working on enforcement mechanisms which will ensure that producers of plastics comply with the new laws.

After the June 3 flood last year, government took a decision to ban plastics as one of the measures of preventing severe flooding situations. On November 1, 2015, government finally placed a ban on light plastic materials with less than 20 microns (one millionth of a metre in terms of density).

However, after much protest from the Ghana Plastic Manufacturing Association, government decided to ensure that plastic materials produced in Ghana are made with oxo-biodegradable additives.

The oxo-biodegradable additives allow plastic materials to decompose easily without posing environmental challenges.

According to the sector Minister, the enforcement mechanisms will help enforcers to determine whether or not plastic materials contain the oxo-biodegradable additives.

“So there is work going on but it’s quite technical,” he said. Mahama Ayariga further mentioned that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been tasked to put together a communication strategy which will guide communicators to “help spread the message and get the public rallying behind this initiative.”