Government will join the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), a new initiative created by a coalition of influential public and private leaders to fast-track plastic pollution action around the world.

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed this Wednesday at a press briefing said President Akufo-Addo, and the Environment Minister, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng will formally launch the initiative on October 1 in Accra.

GPAP is hosted at the World Economic Forum.

Ghana, under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI) is in the process of adopting a National Plastic Management Policy that will leverage the comprehensive management of plastics to drive sustainable development, green job creation, and environmental protection. 

Therefore, Ghana has been selected as a natural first engagement in Africa for the Global Plastics Action Partnership. 

As one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and a leading political and economic force in Africa, Ghana has the potential to catalyze a new era of plastic action across the continent. 

The Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership will launch in close coordination with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s ‘Waste’ Recovery Platform, which will promote sustainable waste recovery in Ghana through connecting stakeholders across the waste management chain. 

The Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership and the UNDP ‘Waste’ Recovery Platform will support the existing work being carried out by the government of Ghana, as well as successful initiatives being led by entrepreneurs and civil society actors at the local level, to accelerate the reduction of plastic waste and pollution in Ghana. 

About the Ghana National Plastics Management Policy 

- Ghana’s first National Plastics Management Policy aims to use the comprehensive management of plastics across their life-cycle and value-chain as a vehicle for sustainable development, enabling a shift towards a plastics circular economy. 

-  The Policy lays a foundation to enable the creation of an entirely new industry for redesigning, recovering and recycling plastics, preventing pollution of our environment and communities and creating many new jobs in the green economy. 

- The Implementation Plan of the National Plastics Management Policy starts with a national communication strategy to change our behaviour on how we manage plastics.  The next focus will be on mobilizing finances and innovation to enable new business models for sustainably managing plastics and supporting communities and companies to coordinate and plan for a circular plastics economy.  Lastly, the implementation of the Policy establishes robust frameworks for good governance and shared accountability across society. 

- The Ghana National Plastics Action Partnership will be supporting the Government of Ghana to implement its ambitious roadmap for a circular plastics economy, captured in the National Plastics Management Policy. 

About the Global Plastic Action Partnership 

- The Global Plastic Action Partnership envisions a world free of plastic waste and pollution. It represents one of the most powerful and concerted efforts working internationally to address this issue, bringing together public, private, and civil society leaders to translate commitments into concrete action. 

- The goal of the Ghana NPAP is to dramatically reduce the country’s plastic waste and pollution, and to fast-track progress towards zero leakage of waste into the environment, especially the ocean. The Ghana NPAP will support the government and businesses in transitioning to a circular economy for plastics, which will fundamentally change the way plastics are manufactured, used, and re-used. 

- The transition to a circular plastics economy will spur job creation in the manufacturing and innovation industries, promote public health and wellbeing, boost tourism and investment, and support Ghana’s progress towards achieving a number of the Sustainable Development Goals.