The Minister-designate for Environment, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has told Parliament's Appointments Committee that she will channel funding to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to develop biodegradable alternatives to plastics from crops such as cassava and hemp.
She said Ghana had enough plant-based raw materials to support the development of an alternative industry, rather than relying mainly on bans, restrictions and enforcement to deal with the country's plastic waste problem.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee on Thursday, August 27, 2026, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said the proposed research would help identify locally available materials suitable for producing alternatives to conventional plastics. "What I believe can be done in addition to this is to channel some funding towards the CSIR, so that they can actually look into biological alternatives, for example hemp, for example cassava," she told the committee, adding that Ghana has plenty of plant produce that could be used to make plastic alternatives capable of breaking down rather than persisting in the environment.
She was responding to questions from the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, on Ghana's plastic waste problem, describing herself as personally and deeply concerned about the issue.
Her proposal comes as government prepares to phase out polystyrene and other single-use plastics. Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said a ban on polystyrene, widely used in Ghana for food packaging, is expected within the next six months. She said sector officials had already briefed her on the plastic waste policy, and that a wider ban on single-use plastics is also being planned. She said the ban and the search for alternatives form part of a broader approach to plastic and waste management requiring an "all-of-government, all-of-society" effort.
On separate concerns raised during her vetting about landfill contamination, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings called for landfill sites to have non-permeable bases to prevent toxic leachate from seeping into groundwater. She also called for waste segregation to begin at the household and school levels to support composting and recycling.
