The acting Director of Environment and Natural Resources at the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Koffi Yao Bernard, has lamented the lack of implementation of existing laws to deal with the menace of plastic waste in the West Africa sub-region.
He said that with Africa already having a 7.8% share of global plastic waste, the situation has become dire as the continent is projected to become the largest source of mismanaged plastic waste by 2060.
Mr. Kofi Yao Bernard was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the 2nd Consultation Workshop to Support the West Africa Regional Action Plan on Plastics, held in Accra on Monday.
The objective of this project is to support West African nations in the preparation of a regional action plan on plastics management and circular economy. The action plan will be used by countries, regional institutions, and development partners to address the huge challenge of plastic pollution in the region.
Building on the momentum from the first consultation workshop, the second consultation workshop focuses on refining and providing critical inputs to the development of the background document and the prototype of the draft regional action plan.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines, Mr. Koffi Yao Bernard said the event was to find sustainable solutions to the lack of implementation of the laws governing plastic waste management in West Africa.

Ozgul Calicioglu, an Environmental Engineer at the World Bank, also in an interview with the media, highlighted the impact of plastic waste on the economies of West African nations, noting that the economic loss per tonne of plastic waste is between $10,000 and $33,000, amounting to about 7 million tonne, which affects various sectors of the economy such as fishing, tourism, and housing.

She said it was important to engage stakeholders to produce a regional action plan to tackle the plastic pollution problem.

A stakeholder and participant shared his views and expectations on the workshop.