Overview
Oceans, habitats, and marine life are being destroyed by single-use plastics. A study which investigated the social and economic impact of plastics in the ocean says plastic pollution costs the world up to $2.5 trillion a year (Chasant, 2019). Single-use plastics (SUPs) are materials that are intended to be used only once before being disposed. As a result, the utilization of SUPs, especially Styrofoam packaging, has reduced labour costs and energy used in cleaning regular silverware or ceramics which have made it quite popular around the world. In Sub Saharan Africa, single use plastic in the form of plastic bags, straws, shopping bags, water/soda bottles, and Styrofoam packaging are widely used among vendors to serve customers.
Out of 840,000 tons of plastic garbage generated annually only about 9.5% are collected for recycling (World Economic Forum, 2023)”
Ghana’s capital, Accra, is drowning in plastic rubbish as a result of a waste infrastructure that cannot keep up with the country’s economic expansion. Shopping bags, plastic water bottles, takeout food containers, and water/soda bottles are just a few of the single-use plastics that are frequently thrown into Accra’s streets and waterways, as well as those of other Ghanaian cities. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic drastically increased the consumption of single use plastics due to public safety concerns. However, SUPs that are not properly managed pose a severe threat to the environment and the sustenance of living things including humans, plants and animals alike.
Key Impacts
One of the main causes of the blocked storm drains and choked gutters in Ghana is solid waste. A huge percentage of such solid waste is made up of Single Use Plastics disposed of indiscriminately that find their way into open gutters, storm drains and other drainage systems, thereby causing floods. Notable among some severe flood occurrences in Ghana is the June 3rd disaster. The devastating June 3rd disaster occurred on June 3rd, 2015, and took the lives of 150 people while leaving hundred others injured. The catastrophe is ascribed to congestion in Accra’s main storm drains, which during that day’s heavy rainfall resulted in a massive flood. A lit-up cigarette near the spot ignited fuel leaks from the GOIL station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle during the downpour, causing an explosion in conjunction with the flood. This memorable event, devastating as it may be, teaches us to be proper managers of solid waste, particularly of SUPs (Johnson, 2023).
Aside the indiscriminate disposable of SUPs leading to flooding in Ghana, land pollution equally a devastating negative impact of SUP. SUPs are fossil based chemicals which are to a large extent non-biodegradable. These SUPs have a crucial impact on the environment especially on land because SUPs after usage are normally disposed of at landfill sites or buried. Out of 840,000 tons of plastic garbage generated annually only about 9.5% are collected for recycling (World Economic Forum, 2023). Thus, a majority of SUPs are dumped at landfill sites or disposed of indiscriminately. These plastics eventually degrade into tiny particles called microplastics that enter the soil every year and seep into underground water, releasing poisons that further contaminate ecosystems.
In Ghana, open burning of residential waste with a substantial plastic concentration is an important contributor to air pollution. Many Ghanaians do not see the need to pay for waste collection, hence, the popular effect is burning of plastic waste which release harmful toxins into the atmosphere, thereby negatively affecting, humans, plants and animals alike. Aside the overall effects burning of SUPs has on human beings, animals and plants, it also causes climate change. The burning of single-use plastics release CO2 and Black carbon into atmosphere. Essentially, one of the second-largest contributors to global warming after CO2 is black carbon which is a component of fine particulate matter (dust, smoke, soot and liquid particles). Black carbon warms the atmosphere of the planet by absorbing sunlight, hastening the melting of snow and ice. The popular act of burning SUPs with kerosene or fuel release dioxin and other toxins into the atmosphere which leads to global warming and with global warming comes climate change as it becomes difficult to predict weather or precipitation pattern. Consequently, the continuous burning of these plastic wastes and its release of black carbon leads to global warming and climate change. Air pollution causes in excess of 28,000 premature deaths in Ghana each year, according to the World Health Organization.
The disposal of SUPs has a harmful effect on many water sources. According to (Miezah et. al, 2015), Ghana contributes between 92,000 and 260,000 metric tons annually, or one to three percent of the total amount of marine waste worldwide. The effects of plastic trash on the ocean are closely related to those on land. Conventional plastic manufacture heavily relies on virgin fossil feedstocks, which makes it a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change (Erinosho, n.d.). Moreover, as more and more single-use plastics find their way into the ocean, the more we lose marine wildlife. Marine wildlife such as whales, seabirds, fish and turtle mistake plastics for food or prey, eat them and die from starvation as their stomachs are filled with plastic.
Key proposals
The government of Ghana should put policies in place to standardize the use of plastic waste that is recyclable. It should also collaborate with more private companies in setting up more recycling plants in all sixteen regions of Ghana to collect and recycle more SUPs.
Every Ghanaian should be responsible for every plastic waste generated or produced. All including expats should make it a point to adequately reuse single-use plastics and allow for well-regulated waste management companies to collect these waste.
Increased public knowledge of the negative environmental effects of single-use plastics, the promotion of alternative technologies, and financial incentives for businesses responsible for producing plastic commodities could all aid in the reduction of plastic pollution in Ghana and other countries. The media could be very important in spreading awareness of the harmful environmental effects of single-use plastics. The media needs to increase the coverage on management of plastic waste as well as regularly promote sensitization campaigns for management of single-use plastics and plastic waste. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a key recommendation or proposal that should be put in place to address the issue of single-use plastics. These are regulations to hold producers accountable for the negative environmental effects of plastics, such as the rising expense of dealing with plastic litter (collection, disposal, street sweeping, canal cleanups, etc.). In doing this, the producer assumes liability for a product even after it has been used.
Conclusion
When it comes to the management of Single Use Plastics, Ghana has a long way to go, though there have been efforts to improve management of plastics. Single Use Plastics could be recycled into art, other plastic materials or used in road construction. The need to reduce, reuse and recycle Single Use Plastics cannot be overemphasized. It is about time Ghana puts in place strategies and enforce policies that would guide it citizens to environmental sustainability.
