Producers of Plastic Bags to Leave

In a bid to check the littering of our cities, Parliament will this week deliberate on a bill which - if passed - may force plastic manufacturers in this country to pack up and leave leading to a situation where all the plastic products Ghana needs would be imported.

This is due to the fact that the manufacturers are going to be required by law to solely fund the curbing of littering of plastics in our cities through their respective district assemblies.

But according to the local manufacturers, they produce less than 50% of the country's plastic needs. This was contained in minutes of series of meetings held between the government and local plastic manufacturers.

Government intends to impose ?60.00 tax on each plastic bag produced in addition to the current ad valerum tax-average net selling price of ?30.00, meaning a total cost of ?90.00 would have to be borne by the consumer - should the manufacturers decide to push this cost to the consumer. "A bag of iced water is likely to hit between ?450.00 to ?500.00," said one water sachet manufacturer.

There are currently some 12 plastic manufacturing firms with thousands of employees in the country and this does not include sellers of iced water and other plastics products. Some may be compelled to fold up for the bill would definitely make it more lucrative to import than to manufacture in Ghana.

At the first meeting held on January 21, this year, Mr. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), charged members to consider three issues- "a percentage of the common fund to be used by district assemblies to rid the environment of waste plastic bags, a complete ban on the manufacturing of plastic bags, and a mandatory recycling of waste bags by all plastic bag manufacturing firms."

Present at the meeting were Professor Dominic Fobih, Environment and Science minister, Mr. Akwasi Osei Adjei, deputy minister for Trade and Industries (MOTI), representatives from the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Environmental Protection Agency (AGI).

Others were Messers Larry Attefuah, special assistant, MLGRD, Solomon Ofei Darku, Accra metropolitan chief executive, Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema municipal chief executive, Samuel Nii Aryeetey Attah, Ga District chief executive, B.N. Laryea, Waste Management, AMA, Kwabena Sarpong, special assistant, MLGRD, two representatives from MOTI and representatives of the plastic manufacturers.

At the next meeting held on February 12, this year, the manufacturers responded that it was "unfair to single out only Ghanaian manufacturers to fund the programme to control the menace, since almost everything imported into this country has plastic components and that the issue should be tackled holistically because it is a problem of littering and not that of production." They also talked about enforcing bye-laws on littering and sanitation.

Even though more than 50% of the plastic products are imported, such meetings to deal with the plastic menace did not invite the importers. Mr. A.K. Kwabla Adjei a representative of Poly Group at the meeting said "any action against producers of plastic bags must include importers of that commodity as well."

Also absent at the meetings were other stakeholders like the Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS) and the traders who sell plastic products. The fact that more than 50% of plastics are imported shows that the already existing 30% net selling price is relatively better to import than to manufacture locally.

Indications are that plastic manufacturers are looking for a possibility to relocate their firms in other West African countries where the issue of littering is not tackled by pushing all the cost involved to the producer, especially when a bigger percentage of the product is imported.

On the issue of recycling, Chronicle learnt that most of the plastic manufacturing companies have acquired recycling machines and that they are waiting for the outcome of government's decision on littering.

"My machine had been acquired long ago. Our problem is electricity and water charges because this machine consumes a lot of energy. You need to clean the littered plastics thoroughly before recycling them, so not until something is done to balance these things we cannot recycle," said Mr. A.T. Budhrani, chairman of Mitsui Group, producers of Sintex tanks.