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Abstract: Pollution poses major health risks to man and other living creatures, especially in developing countries. Its sources include industrial emissions and improper waste by households and organisations. However, large firms have often been accused as the main actors of polluting water bodies, land and air. Despite this, some studies argue it is difficult to identify culprits for air and water pollution; hence, the need to analyse the business practices of MSMEs to determine their sustainability, since they contribute over 90% of businesses in developing countries. The study, therefore, looked at plastic pollutant, a major waste concern in Ghana. This is because, despite several government interventions in cleaning cities and towns of plastic waste; the problem still persists. Statistics indicate about 501,875 tons of plastic waste are generated annually, and it has created serious health and environmental risks such as the blocking of drains leading to flooding, the breeding of mosquitoes that spread malaria and the causing of severe aesthetic nuisance in terms of smell and appearance in communities. Using a mixed method, 500 MSMEs engaged in the production of Sachet Water in the Accra and Kumasi metropolis were sampled. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that though MSMEs contribute significantly to plastic waste, they do not have any strategy for managing the waste generated. Furthermore, there is a map of complex network of actors in the plastic packaging chain, and therefore, it was concluded that the idea of plastic management policy should not target only sachet water producers. This study recommends that policy formulation aimed at dealing with this menace should target all actors in the plastic value chain including suppliers of plastic raw material, consumers of plastic packaged products, collectors of plastic waste as well as processors.
Keywords: Sustainability, Business Practices, Plastics, MSMEs, Metropolitan Areas
1.Introduction
For years, the issue of pollution has been considered a major issue in the environmental management literature. This is because, exposures to environmental pollution continue to pose major problems and health risks to society and its inhabitants; and these effects are said to be greatest in developing countries (Briggs 2013). Sources of pollution are reported to include industrial emissions, poor sanitation and contamination...