NGO calls for policies to eliminate use of biodegradable plastics in Ghana

Adamah Veh Zerah (AVZ), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has called on the government to implement policies and legislation to reduce and eliminate the use of non-biodegradable plastics in the country.

This, it believed would expedite the process towards cleaner Ghana and an economy, fuelled by sustainable and ecologically driven industries amidst the contemporary production of non-biodegradable products.

Mr. Ahmahtsiyahu Ben Yisrael, Executive Director of Adamah Veh Zerah, the NGO that works to offer sustainable development solutions to villages and communities, who made the call also stressed the need to create infrastructure to support sanitation.

Mr. Yisrael who is also the spokesperson for Bamboo Roots Collective was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a clean-up exercise at the beach organised by AVZ and bamboo roots collective in collaboration through its Seeds of Sovereignty and Nabom Youth Sanitation and Beautification programme.

It was done in collaboration with the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly and Zoomlion Waste Management.

The four-hour exercise along the beaches of Cape Coast saw years of compacted waste most of which were plastics and rubbers removed, revealing the beauty that the coastline possessed.

“We have seen the successes of countries like Costa Rica and Rwanda implementing policy and legislation to reduce and eliminate non-biodegradable plastics from their countries,” Mr. Yisrael said.

“Ghana has always been a leader amongst African nations. It is time for us to assume our rightful place in raising the standard, throwing a shining light, and being an example of how to transform degraded environments back into paradise,” he added.

“We understand the enormous task ahead in order to truly be able to make a greater ecological impact that will positively transform our once pristine landscapes into their original form,” he said.

Mr. Yisrael recounted the challenges of waste ending up in the oceans, rivers, and land and stressed the need to inculcate a culture of cleanliness, especially in the youth through intensified education.

He added that incentivisation of manufacturers to produce biodegradable alternatives and improve sanitation infrastructure would be the best way to address the problem.

He said Ghana and for that matter, all African nations were standing at a crossroad whereby they could choose to continue on an unsustainable path or choose a destined pathway of prosperity by laying seeds of sovereignty.

Mr Mwintome Godfred from the Environmental Health Department said the CCMA was working hard to put an end to the open defecation, which had become a common practice along with the coastal communities in the Metropolis.

He bemoaned the attitude of coastal communities towards sanitation as they continued to dump refuse into the sea despite measures taken by the Assembly to stop the practice.

He expressed the resolve of the Assembly to collaborate with other NGOs to work towards addressing the sanitation challenges of the Metropolis.