The World Bank has provided critical funding to aid Ghana in its efforts to recycle and reuse plastics to create a sustainable environment.
This comes from the Bretton Woods institution’s decision to grant 13 million dollars under its ‘PROBLUE’ initiative.
At a workshop put on by the World Bank, Oliver Boachie, an advisor to the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, said this.
The World Bank manages the PROBLUE multi-donor trust fund to help with the sustainable development of marine and coastal resources and the elimination of plastic waste.
The workshop’s purpose was to guide policymakers as they seek to establish a regulatory structure that will encourage an economic system based on the reuse and regeneration of materials or products as a means of continuous manufacturing that does not harm the environment.
Mr Boachie, speaking on the fringes of the event, stated that the fund would assist Ghana in developing a system in which actors in the plastic production and usage arena are held more accountable for their use of recycled products.
The World Bank is assisting with the creation of a framework and an EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) plan tailored to Ghana’s requirements.
He also emphasised the importance of creating policies uniquely suited to Ghana’s culture and socioeconomic context.
Grzegorz Peszko, a World Bank economist, has advocated for tax incentives to lower plastic recycling costs.
He thinks that the use of recycled plastics can be increased by providing financial incentives to businesses that purchase and use such plastics.
Europe has rules in place, virgin plastic tariffs on packaging, which Ghanaian producers do not regard as incentives to employ recycled content. This means that plastic products with recycled content can be purchased at a discount, offsetting the tax. These levies are feasible in an increasing number of European nations.