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National Chairman of the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, Daniel Yaw Tornyigah, says the ban on plastic materials in the country will cost Ghana several millions of dollars. Government has finally placed a ban on light plastic materials with less than 20 microns (one millionth of a metre in terms of density) such as ones used in packaging sugar, gari, porridge and ground nuts. The Minister of Environment, Innovation Science and Technology, Mahama Ayariga announced this on Thursday. The ban takes effect from November 1. He said the manufacturers of these plastic bags must ensure that all products that do not meet the standards are disposed of before the November deadline. This forms part of government�s efforts to address the sanitation challenges the country is bedeviled with. But Yaw Tornyigah told Ekourba Gyasi, host of TOP FM�s morning show �YƐn NsƐmpa� that since the hint was given that Ghana was going to ban plastic materials, several investors who were on the verge of investing over $150 million in the sector pulled back with their investment plans. This was when the hint was given but now that the official announcement has been made, the nation is certainly going to lose a lot of money and experience redundancies in the sector. He said although the Association welcomes the ban, the announcement came as a surprise to them because it was expected to made on Monday. �We met at a stakeholders meeting and it was there that we agreed that the announcement will be made on Monday so we were quite surprised when it was announced on Thursdays,� he said.