The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has announced plans to implement a comprehensive waste management and recycling plan later this month.

This is aimed at reducing nondegradable waste, especially plastic, by promoting recycling and subsequently banning the product in Ghana.

The Chief Executive Officer of the EPA, Professor Nana Ama Klutse, announced this at separate engagements with students and teachers of the Wovenu and Dzodze Penyi Senior High Schools in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region.

“After the 5th of June [World Environmental Day] there will be a lot of activities on plastics. We want to reduce plastic waste in the country because they harm the environment”, she said.

She explained that her outfit would first introduce a waste segregation policy aiming to educate Ghanaians on the need to separate waste for easy disposal and recycling.

She added that the initiative would create jobs as the youth who would have the opportunity to collect plastic waste and sell to the recycling factories to earn some money, while hands would also be employed to work at the factories.

Prof Klutse said this is gradually targeted at phasing out plastics in the system and then enforcing a ban to prevent factories from producing plastics.

“We want to avoid plastic waste as much as possible. We are trying to ban plastics in Ghana, we want to do it slowly.

"We want to collect what is in the system and then we want to get an alternative to this plastic, then we can reduce the waste as much as possible. Surely, we can do away with plastics products, especially the single-use plastics”, she said.

The Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Edem Agbana also shared in the vision explaining that he would also make available receptacles at vantage points for plastic collection.

He said the plastic waste would be sold to a company in Accra to be used in producing school desks, roofing sheets among others.

He proposed a partnership with the Wovenu Senior High School to cultivate about 15 acres of mango and coconut as part of the School Farm Project. This forms part of his afforestation project to sustain the environment.

Mr. Agbagba said his office would make available seedlings to be planted across the second cycle schools, urging the students to adopt a tree each and nurture it.

“We are bringing seedlings and as a student, you must ensure that you have at least one, you plant and water it every morning. You must check on it, you can give it a name and ensure that the tree grows”, he said.

There was symbolic tree planting by Mr. Agbana and Prof Klutse ahead of the World Environmental Day celebration on 5th June 2025.