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Trade And The Circular Economy: A Deep Dive Into Plastics Action In Ghana

Ghana, a fast-growing economy with a burgeoning plastic waste problem, is home to one of GPAP’s flagship national partnerships and is used here as a case study. The research and subsequent policy options form a preliminary assessment, with the suggested trade policy areas meriting further investigation.Plastic, in particular single-use plastic, holds negative environmental consequences, yet the material is a preferred input for a variety of uses. Business-as-usual projections indicate that annual total plastic consumption could more than triple from about 380 million metric tons today to 1.3 billion metric tons by 2050. Ghana, an oil-producing, coastal country in West Africa with ambitious economic growth and industrialization plans, can harness trade policy to convert its plastic waste challenge into an opportunity by transitioning to a circular economy that reduces, reuses and recycles its waste. This would mitigate the risks of plastic waste pollution to land and marine ecosystems while also boosting investment, jobs and innovation.

Sector
Just Transition
Year published
12 October 2022