Zoomlion Ghana Limited, supporting donated 300 dustbins and other waste management logistics as efforts to ensure that the 2022 edition of the Kwahu Easter festivities is marked in a clean and healthy environment.
The donation was made on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at the forecourt of the Abetifi Chief’s Palace in the Eastern Region while lunching a ‘Plastic Waste Management Campaign’ ahead of this year’s festivities.
The campaign is an initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD) through the Kwahu East District Assembly (KEDA) and Kwahu South Municipal Assembly (KSMA).
At the lunch, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, projected that huge volumes of plastic waste would be generated during the period of the occasion therefore it was necessary to embark on such move.
“And it is for that reason that I humbly implore all – religious bodies, schools, chiefs, event organisers, state and non-state actors, the private sector and the media to put in place measures for plastics segregation and collection” he added.
The Minister decried the alarming rate of the plastic menace across the country, adding that it was regrettable that Ghana was sinking in a sea of plastics.
“From our roadsides, water bodies, parks, and drainage systems, the widespread littering and indiscriminate dumping of these plastics, is causing serious risks to the environment and public health.”
Dr. Afriyie underscored that the country continues to be saddled with major challenges, especially in plastic waste collection, and the management of thin plastics despite the country been applauded at the global level for its efforts in finding lasting solutions to her myriad of environmental problems.
In this regard, he expressed his firm commitment to work with other stakeholders in this campaign to achieve the sustainable management of plastics in the country.
“However, I still see an opportunity for us as a country. Beyond the nuisance we call waste, I see a resource that has the potential to grow the economy and create jobs through a vibrant and market-driven domestic recycling industry,” he indicated.
He accepted that, the fight can be achieved when Ghanaians see waste as a resource that can be turned into useful products.
Consequently, Dr. Afriyie called on the citizenry to stop thinking of plastic as waste, “but as a renewable resource that needed to be disposed correctly.
He admitted that the benefits of recycling plastics were enormous which range from building and construction materials to bags, fuel, as well as providing jobs for many Ghanaians.
Significantly, he said a circular economy for plastics offers a promising vision for stemming the tide of plastic waste, adding that converting this idea into a fully operational system will require greater cooperation from all key stakeholders.
Thus, the minister urged all sundry in the Eastern Region to help in the fight against the littering of plastics warning that the plastics menace has the potential setback of the country’s future development.
