(Source: Ghana EPA Bulletin, Nov 2024; GhanaWeb Report)
- What happened: On November 1, 2024, Ghana became Africa’s first nation to enforce a mandatory plastic levy on all single-use packaging. Crucially, 30% of revenue funds informal waste collectors (including former kayayei porters) to run recycling hubs.
- Real impact: Accra’s Kejetia Market saw 47% less plastic waste in drains by January 2025. Street vendors now use woven bags made from recycled sachets—a model pioneered by groups like Trashy Bags Africa.
- Why it matters: This centers informal economies in formal policy—a blueprint for Nigeria’s similar 2025 law.
→ Key lesson for GVI: Integrate waste-picker collectives into carbon credit projects (like KGV’s husk system) to replicate this justice-centered enforcement.
