2023 World Environment Day Celebration: Solutions to plastic pollution

The United Nations has since 1975 declared 5th June of every year as World Environment Day. 2023 marks the 50th Anniversary of the World Environment Day and will be hosted by our western coastal neighbours, Cote D'Ivoire in partnership with the Netherlands, which is notably one of the countries taking ambitious action along the plastic lifecycle.

The celebration has undoubtedly grown to become the largest global platform for environmental outreaches and has been selected to promote public awareness and actions on environmental issues.

The objective of the celebration is to create regular public awareness and education on emerging environmental issues, serve as a powerful platform to accelerate, amplify and engage people, communities and governments around the world, and stimulate action on critical environmental challenges facing the planet.

The theme for this year's celebration is "Solutions To Plastic Pollution". Ghana adopted the slogan, "Beat Plastic Pollution".

To appreciate this year's theme, there is the need for collaboration between Governments, private sector organizations and individuals to effectively provide long-lasting solutions to combat the threats posed b yplastic pollution on both our health and the environment. The major problem confronting Ghana is the collection of single-use plastics or the under 20 microns plastics termed as the Orphan Plastics, and the improper disposal of such plastics.

For us in Ghana, in observing the day, the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other key stakeholders will undertake projects for edible and compostable packaging as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics, engage and assign public and private collectors to collect and store plastic wastes, promote domestic

recycling, educate the public on proper waste disposal and segregation practices, call on citizens to undertake clean-up exercises and adopt measures to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover their waste.

To beat plastic pollution and provide solutions to plastic pollution, there is the need to adhere to some basic observations.

For us as individuals, institutions, communities, MMDAs, MDAs and a nation, we are therefore called upon to unite in playing effective roles towards managing plastic waste to protect our environment and achieve greener and better lifestyles.

Let's therefore use this day as a catalyst for social change; to collectively beat plastics pollution in Ghana by rejecting single-use or orphaned plastics and chart a path to a cleaner, healthier and sustainable environment for both ourselves and for posterity.