MESTI secures US$7m to strengthen national circular economy capacity

In order to strengthen the country’s capacity to transition to a circular economy, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI) has secured US$7m funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) toward the establishment of a circular economy framework for the plastic sector.

According to the ministry, after visiting various value chain actors it saw the need for a circular economy framework to ensure that the country moves from the current linear way of production to a more sustainable way.

With the circular economy framework, production and consumption will involve reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible.

“The objective of the project is to strengthen the national capacity of Ghana to transition to a circular economy within a framework that addresses plastic leakage into the country’s oceans and waterways; facilitates sustainable plastics management through operationalising the National Plastic Management Policy (NPMP) and National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP/GPAP); and ultimately end marine plastic pollution and reduce the unintentional emissions of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs),” noted the special advisor to the minister, Oliver Boachie."

He said this at the inception workshop of the ‘Establishing a Circular Economy Framework for the Plastics Sector in Ghana’ (CEF-PS) project, which was launched on 7th May 2022.

“We have been working closely with UNIDO (Implementing agency) and they have helped us to secure some funding from the GEF. The funding we are talking about is the US$7milliion that we have received. The US$7million is for the establishment of a circular economy framework for the plastic sector in the country,” the Director of Policy, Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME) at MESTI, Lydia Essuah, iterated.

For his part Ag. Chief Director-MESTI, Constant Gladzah, added that the move presents a model that has the potential to grow the economy and safeguard the future of generations yet unborn.

“Applying the principles and practices of circularity throughout the full lifecycle of the plastics value chain represents the safest way to manage plastics: from its design and production, through its consumption and disposal, and to its processing into secondary material for circular production.

“The implementation of this project will bring together a wide range of government actors, academia and private sector actors from across the country to work in applying technology to address plastic pollution, waste management and efficient resource utilisation,” he said.

The project will provide support to small- and medium-size enterprises operating within the plastics value chain.

The support is expected to build their capacity and scale-up their operations, in order to strategically position them to attract investment and technical know-how that will make their businesses profitable.

The project will be executed over a five-year duration.