Mr Ebbo Botwe, the President of the GPMA, who made the appeal said because the Authority had not been established, it had become difficult for the release of funds for the management of plastic waste in the country.

Mr Botwe, also the Chairman of the Plastic Waste Management Programme, Ghana (PWMPG), made the appeal when he briefed the media on the recurrent calls for ban on plastics.

He said the 10 per cent Environmental Excise Tax (EET) that was introduced over the years had accrued to a total sum of Gh¢912 million, which had been paid into the Consolidated Account because the fund secretariat was yet to be set-up.

He said government had not released the monies that had accrued over the last eight years for its intended purpose of managing plastic waste due to this reason.

The money accrued money when put into effective use, could build six ultra-modern high capacity poly-ethylene terephthalate (PET) Bottle waste recycling plants, 20 high capacity High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE/LD) recycling plants and two high capacity Plastic-to-Fuel plants.

Mr Botwe was of the view that recycling was the best way to effectively deal with used up PET bottles, adding that the combined installed capacity for a six PET Bottle waste plants would be 72,000 metric tonnes per year.

He underscored on the teething challenges involved in the improper disposal of plastic wastes in the environment, adding that they would remain for thousands of years unless it was made to bio-degrade.

 Mr Botwe said there was, therefore, an urgent need for the government to come up with a legislative instrument to regulate the use and management of plastics in the country as was the case in other African countries.

"We need the government to set up an LI to compel bottling companies in Ghana to at least use 30 per cent of recyclable material in their production.

He also called for a ban on flexible plastic bags and packaging imports as about 60 per cent of the  plastic wastes generated were from outside and asked that as a matter of urgency, government released the 10 per cent EET to enable the plastic industry carry out recycling initiatives in accordance to Act 863. 

Mr Botwe addressing the consequences of banning plastics noted that the country would have 18.2 per cent of her population unemployed if a ban was placed.

He said the plastic industry was very complex and highly technical field and one must get the right training and understanding to be able to advice accordingly.

"Much is still unknown or misunderstood about plastics but we believe, we have the capacity and the technologies are there, to manage our plastic waste if we want to do so.

The capacity to develop a sustainable business module in plastic waste recycling is endless and plastics will continue to evolve," he stated.