Opinion: The opportunity in Ghana’s food packaging ban

From the newsletter

As Ghana prepares to ban polystyrene foam food packaging from January 2027, Jacqueline Sampah-Adjei of Constromart Africa argues that success will depend on the availability of affordable, sustainable alternatives. Meeting this demand, she notes, presents an opportunity to strengthen local manufacturing and circular packaging systems.

• Ms Sampah-Adjei is a Water, Sanitation and Health (WASH) specialist serving as Manager for Partnerships and Business Development at Constromart Africa. Her expertise includes circular economy solutions such as e-waste recycling infrastructure, landfill engineering, urban flood mitigation and waste management projects in Ghana.

• “The real success of this policy will not be measured by the disappearance of Styrofoam alone. It will be measured by what replaces it,” she says.