THE Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE) has launched its fifth anniversary with activities lined up to promote sustainable plastic waste management in Ghana.
GRIPE
which aims at finding workable solutions to plastic waste management challenges
in Ghana currently has 14 members, namely: Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Dow
Chemical West Africa Limited, FanMilk PLC, Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC, Nestlé
Ghana, PZ Cussons Ghana Limited, and Unilever Ghana PLC.
The
rest are: Accra Brewery Limited, Pernod Ricard Ghana Limited, Mohinani Group,
Voltic (GH) Limited, Fine Pack Industries, KGM Industries and Universal Plastic
Products & Recycling Limited.
Activities lined for the celebration
include campaigns designed to instill a waste segregation mentality in the
youth, and clean-up exercises in partnership with the Ministry of Sanitation
and Water Resources (MSWR), among others.
In
a release issued by the organisation on September 13, it said the celebration
is designed to offer stakeholders an opportunity to appreciate the progress
GRIPE has made over the past five years in the plastic ecosystem in Ghana.
Commenting
on the anniversary, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and
Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie, commended GRIPE for its efforts to
finding tangible solutions to the plastic pollution crisis that has plagued
Ghana for decades.
“We accept your helping hand towards
achieving the aim of the National Plastics Management Policy. This partnership
brings a renewed focus and cohesion to the many existing policies and
programmes within the public and private sectors to address the rapidly growing
plastics pollution crisis in Ghana,” he said.
He
said the Ministry was ready to collaborate with GRIPE to develop innovative
business plans and models, whiles creating and supporting opportunities for
greater efficiencies, and higher recovery.
Tackling plastic waste menace
The
Director, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Institute of
Industrial Research (IIR), Dr Francis Boateng Agyenim, who congratulated GRIPE
on its 5th anniversary, said the CSIR- GRIPE plastics recovery project in
schools was launched in November 2021.
He
said since its inception, the project has recovered 7.38 tons of plastic wastes
which would have ended up in landfills.
“They were channeled to industry
whilst schools make returns to sustain the infrastructure put in place by the
project,” he added.
The
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the
umbrella body under whose auspices GRIPE operates, Seth Twum-Akwaboah, said
GRIPE is a private-sector group operating a voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility
(vEPR) scheme to complement the government’s efforts in tackling the plastic
waste menace.
“The
progress we have seen today within the plastic value chain is such that
businesses are now venturing into bottle-to-bottle rPET recycling in Ghana, and
it is largely due to the advocacy and education by GRIPE.
It
is only by working in collaboration with the public and private sectors that we
can win the fight against the plastic waste menace in Ghana,” he said.
About GRIPE
GRIPE
was formed through the concerted effort of eight industry stakeholders
including the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).
GRIPE
is committed to integrating sustainable waste management solutions,
particularly around plastics.
Source: Graphic.com.gh