Ghanaians look for organic alternatives to plastic packaging

DW (English)

As Ghana prepares to phase out single-use plastics, activists, scientists and entrepreneurs are seeking sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging.

Transcript

00:00Plastic waste is supplied on Ghana's otherwise beautiful environment, blocking

00:06drains, harming wildlife and polluting beaches. Richmond Kennedy Kweku works for

00:15an NGO dedicated to fighting the plastic menace. For the past two years, the team

00:20has been campaigning for a ban on plastic packaging. Ten percent of the

00:25population of Ghana relies on the fishing industry. At the moment, so many

00:30communities where there are fisher folks are catching more plastics than

00:34fishes. This is destroying livelihoods and there is the point where we need to

00:38switch. Switch our mindsets, switch our habits towards a more sustainable one.

00:44By this way, just carrying a reusable bag is steady tells us it's reducing 10,000

00:50single-use plastics that you would have used in a year. Plastic packaging may have

00:54several advantages but it takes centuries to decompose and often softness in the

01:01packaging can be a serious health hazard as scientists warn. It's not just causing a

01:07disease condition in us but it's going to affect our generations right so it's

01:11something that I sit here I'm really concerned and I'm trying to find

01:14alternatives to this plastics. Richmond and his team wants to make a difference. They

01:22want to get regulators, entrepreneurs, supermarkets and drinks bottlers in Ghana to

01:27sign a voluntary pact to reduce the use of single-use plastics by 2030. But

01:34consumers have to play their part too. Today Richmond and his team are visiting

01:39the supermarkets to record a TV sketch promoting sustainable packaging and the

01:45use of reusable shopping bags. An easy way to cut down on plastics. Some local

01:51businesses have already switched to using less plastic to package their products.

01:56This female-owned cosmetics company makes body lotion from locally sourced organic

02:03materials. They use calabash, jute, bamboo and discarded cuckoo sacks to package their

02:10cosmetics. However, not all packaging options can be completely plastic-free.

02:16It's very important to us to be natural and sustainable as a brand especially you know

02:22growing up in Ghana we all know the problem of single-use plastic we see it

02:26everywhere choked gutters especially when it rains and everywhere floods in fact

02:31our grandmother growing up she she was a victim of the flooding where she had to

02:36you know basically unpack everything and restart all over and so when we started

02:41an acquiring the idea was that we wanted a business that sure will generate some

02:45waste but we want to do our part to minimize that waste as much as possible.

02:50At the University of Ghana in Accra scientists are trying to find plant-based

02:55solutions for packaging that pose no risk to health or environment.

03:00These mango kernels from the seed that we are extracting fats from it we use these fats to

03:08coat the surface of the bi-polymer form so that we can use it for food packaging we can also use to

03:14coat fresh food right and these can prevent or serve some moisture barriers to prevent moisture from

03:20all vapour from getting to the food for contamination we also have the the pills we convert this to a polymer

03:28like leaving the cellulose makes you lose from it again perform a film for packaging.

03:33Another easy way to avoid plastic waste is to use paper bags. Derek Safo and his team make them by hand

03:42partly from recycled paper. Demand is starting to catch up but he hopes a possible ban on plastic bags

03:49will allow them to expand. Some Ghanaian shopkeepers are ready to do away with plastic bags and plan to offer

03:57paper, paper, cellulose or textile alternatives. If used often enough they are the better option and

04:03more importantly they prevent waste. Richmond and his team hope to inspire as many Ghanians as possible

04:10to change their habits for a cleaner country one bag at a time.

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