Plastic pollution costs the world up to $2.5 trillion per year, according to a study on the social and economic impact of plastics. According to the Centre for Environmental Law (CIEL), the production and incineration of plastic would emit 850 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in 2019, the equivalent of 189 coal-fired power plants. By 2050, this could increase to 2.8 gigatonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of 615 coal plants.
Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Takoradi, and other cities in Ghana are drowning in plastic trash because waste infrastructure has not kept up with the country’s economic growth. Despite the fact that Ghana is drowning in plastic trash, the government has announced that single-use plastics will not be banned.
The Situation in the NorthThe population of the Northern Region is over 2,310,939. According to the Ghana Statistical Service for 2021, Tamale has a population of 223,252 people, followed by Sagnarigu municipality, which has a population of 148,099 people.
The streets and waterways of suburbs such as Changli, Gumani, and Gurugu are clogged with single-use plastics such as shopping bags, sachet water plastic bags, plastic takeaway food boxes, and water and soda bottles.
Residents routinely burn plastic waste in the open, releasing toxic substances into the environment such as dioxins and furans. Butchers in butcheries also burn used car tyres as part of their work.
Video Player
“The fire could burn all night, sending smoke into our rooms,” Amuda Sayibu, a displaced resident, told ZAMI Reports.
Plastics, according to Dr Prince Maxwell Etwire, a senior research scientist at the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), “emit chlorinated and brominated additives as well as other persistent organic pollutants when burned, posing serious threats to plant, animal, and human health.”
The open burning of plastic waste in Tamale is not only harmful to human health, but it also emits toxins and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.
He stated, “Every day, human activities emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural processes can remove, leading to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It makes no difference whether the burning is at the household or industrial level; all forms of uncontrolled burning are harmful to the environment and the climate.”
Dr Etwire also revealed that, in addition to the burning of plastics and car tyres, some farmers and livestock owners want to burn the bush to allow the germination of new grass, which also contributes to greenhouse gases and climate change.
He suggested that the use of more biodegradable materials be encouraged.”Prior to the introduction of plastics, we had a way of life in this country, and if we can return to that way of life, it will help us eliminate the use of plastics.”
Ghana has incorporated the Ghana Climate Change Policy in response to the challenges of climate change, which provides a clear pathway for dealing with the challenges of climate change.
The policy addresses four major concerns about climate change and variability: rising greenhouse gas emissions and the loss of carbon sinks; rising temperatures; rising sea levels; and rainfall variability, which leads to extreme and unpredictable events.
Though the Ghana Climate Change Policy is a good initiative, implementation is likely to be difficult because the policy lacks firm foundations for implementation, let alone sustainability.
However, product sustainability and zero-waste goals are important for reducing the climate impact of plastic. Governments, and ultimately consumers, must do more to help achieve these objectives.
Unfortunately, without a mental shift and behavioural change towards roasting animal skin with car tyres, the open burning of plastic waste in particular, or additional changes in governmental legislation, there is little hope of addressing this canker.
By: Prince Kwame Tamakloe/www.zamireports.com
