Browsing by Author "Gyapoma, A."
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Item Deconstructing the use and disposal of plastic bags in Tema community one township in Ghana: implications for policy discourse on plastic bags waste management(University of Ghana, 2015-04-16) Bawakyillenuo, S.; Gyapoma, A.Population increase coupled with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in developing countries, come with the challenges of waste creation and management. The proper disposal and management of the different types of waste generated are indispensable to ensuring the healthiness of human beings and sound environmental media. This article investigates consumers' attitudes towards the use of plastic bags, their level of awareness of the hazards posed by the indiscriminate disposal of these plastic bags and the roles institutions play in their proper management in Tema Community One Township in Ghana. Using an eclectic approach (quantitative and qualitative instruments) supported by the Innovation Diffusion Theory, with a total sample size of one hundred (100) respondents (ninety-four (94) consumers and six (6) institutions), the paper unravelled a web of inter connectedness between plastic bags reuse and disposal practices vis-a-vis various socio-demographic factors especially, gender, education and occupations. The paper also unearthed the inadequacy of available policy instrument that directs the proper management of plastic bags waste, while technologies on recycling, reuse, reduction and recovery still remain at exploratory stages. These have implications on the environment especially, with the increasing population, urbanisation and slum development. Lessons emerging from this paper include the indispensability of composing a robust plastic bags waste management policy, a revision of the old bye-laws and the utilisation of multiple environmental instruments including, moral suasion and incentivasation in plastic bags waste management