The founder of the prominent environmental sanitation group, The Bus Stop Boys, Oheneba Kojo Safo, has thrown his weight behind the government’s newly announced policy from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to phase out and completely ban expanded polystyrene foam products—popularly known as Styrofoam takeaway containers—across the country.
Speaking on Starr FM’s Morning Show, Morning Star on Thursday, May 28, 2026, he described the directive as accurate and a massive step toward flood mitigation, Safo urged the state to be even more radical and extend the prohibition to cover all single-use plastics.
“Apart from littering the environment, it’s causing a lot of health-related problems and therefore, if we are banning some of them, especially we should even extend it to all single-use plastic, and then ban them because it’s not like it’s not possible—it is. That is why Rwanda have done it.”
Reflecting on Rwanda’s rigorous border controls and strict anti-plastic policies, Safo noted that Ghana has no excuse for trailing behind in environmental cleanliness, especially given its historical head start over nations that have suffered past turmoil.
“If a fellow African have done it—and the funny thing is, as far back [as] 1996, Rwanda was fighting genocide when we were okay as a country, and they’ve been able to surpass us to become the cleanest country in Africa—then it means that we should collectively, we should agree we have failed, and then begin to stitch back and look at what exactly we need to do,” he said.
The EPA announced that Ghana will officially ban the production, importation, distribution, sale and use of polystyrene foam products, commonly known as Styrofoam or takeaway packs, from January 1, 2027.
The move forms part of a broader national strategy aimed at tackling plastic pollution, improving environmental sanitation and promoting sustainable consumption practices across the country.
The ban will cover a wide range of products, including food packaging containers, takeaway packs, disposable cups and plates, foam packs used by restaurants and chop bars, insulation materials, foam mattresses, bedding products, and packaging or cushioning materials.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
