The President of the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, Ebbo Botchway, is kicking against the imposition of a 5% excise tax on locally produced plastic products.

According to him, the tax if not suspended will adversely affect the business community and compound the living conditions of consumers.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsnight on June 26, Mr. Botchway expressed concerns that the tax was introduced without consultation with the association.

He argued that it is unreasonable to apply this tax uniformly to all plastic products.

This, he said, is because certain plastics, particularly rigid ones, do not have a negative environmental impact and should be exempt from the tax.

“You cannot put this tax across board for every single plastic that is manufactured. There are some plastics that affect the environment, but there are these rigid plastics that you can never claim that they have some negative impact on the environment.

“So right from the word go, it was wrong for them to impose the tax. We need to sit down, get a product list, and work with it,” he said.

Also read: Over 30,000 jobs are at stake – Plastic Manufacturers warn govt over 5% tax

He warned that if the tax is not suspended, it will adversely affect businesses and worsen living conditions for consumers.

He pointed out that the 5% excise tax is purely for government revenue and not specifically allocated for plastic waste management, a situation he deemed problematic.

Furthermore, Mr. Botchway mentioned the existing 10% tax collected under the Customs and Excise (Amendment) Act of 2013 (Act 863), which has generated over 1.97 billion Ghana cedis.

This fund was meant for plastic waste management and recycling activities, yet not a single cedi has been allocated for these purposes, he added.

"That money [1.97 billion Ghana cedis.] I am sure one-tenth of it will set up a lot of recycled initiatives and plants that would consume all our plastic wastes...."

Government's Environmental Excise Duty

In the 2024 budget, the government announced the expansion of the Environmental Excise Duty to include plastic packaging, addressing distortions in the current excise policy.

The 2013 Act levied a 10% tax on imported plastic products to establish the Plastic Waste Recycling Fund.

This fund was designed to support recycling efforts and provide garbage bins and bags to mitigate plastic pollution. However, the promised allocation of these funds for their intended purpose has not been realized.