On a busy day at a food joint in Accra, a takeaway pack is more than a container. It is part of the cost of doing business, the price a customer pays for a meal and, for many small vendors, a practical necessity for keeping their businesses running.

But from 1 January 2027, the packaging choices available to these businesses will change significantly. Ghana’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) plans to begin enforcing a nationwide ban on the production, importation, distribution, sale and use of expanded polystyrene foam products, commonly known as Styrofoam.

The policy is intended to address plastic pollution and the environmental damage associated with discarded foam packaging. Yet, as the deadline approaches, questions remain about how prepared the small businesses that depend on these products are, particularly women working in Ghana’s informal economy.

For some vendors, the challenge is not simply finding another container. It is finding one they can afford without raising food prices, losing customers or sacrificing already narrow profit margins.

When the alternative costs more

A 25 October report by Graphic Online captured some of these concerns among Indomie sellers in Accra.

At Kyeiwaa Indomie Joint in Adabraka Old Timers, food vendor Comfort Boadi said the cost of alternative packaging could force her to increase meal prices by GH¢5. A meal selling for GH¢30 could rise to GH¢35, while one costing GH¢40 could increase to GH¢45.

The report also documented concerns about the prices and quantities of alternative packs. At Circle, a vendor identified as Maame Esi said some alternatives cost GH¢150 or GH¢200 for bundles containing fewer than 50 pieces.

These are not merely packaging decisions. They affect the final price customers pay and the income vendors retain after covering the cost of food, fuel, ingredients and other operating expenses.

For small businesses, even a modest increase in recurring costs can force difficult choices. Vendors may absorb the additional expense and earn less, pass it on to customers or experiment with other packaging methods.

Some sellers are already discussing the coming changes with customers. Others remain unconvinced that the ban will be enforced.

The problem is that neither uncertainty nor a last-minute switch in packaging is a reliable business plan.

Has public education reached everyone?

The EPA has not ignored the need for public sensitisation.

In August, the Authority took its awareness campaign to Kumasi, including engagements with traders at Kejetia Market. Its activities have included roadshows, market visits, media engagements and explanations of alternatives to polystyrene packaging.

In October, the campaign continued in Winneba, where officials from the EPA's Kasoa Area Office and Agona Swedru District Office conducted shop-to-shop engagements with businesses, eateries and supermarkets before gathering at the main market.

The Ghana News Agency reported on the Winneba exercise that some traders remained concerned about the cost of environmentally friendly alternatives and called for government support.

The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, also urged journalists on 20 October to help the public understand the impending ban, how it would affect businesses and what alternatives were available.

These activities demonstrate that public education is taking place. They do not, however, establish how many traders have been reached nationally, how well they understand the policy or whether they can afford to comply.

The distinction matters.

In its 25 October report, Graphic Online documented vendors with different levels of awareness. One seller said she had never heard about the ban, despite regularly visiting the market to purchase supplies. Another knew about the deadline but had not changed her packaging because she did not believe the authorities would enforce it.

These accounts do not establish the overall level of awareness among Ghanaian traders. They do show why the effectiveness of public education cannot be measured solely by the number of market visits or awareness campaigns conducted.

A trader can attend a market meeting and still be unclear about which products are prohibited, when the rules take effect or what to do with stock already purchased. Another may hear the announcement but lack the money to change suppliers.

For women with limited access to digital information, traders who rely on word of mouth or sellers who operate outside major commercial centres, the accessibility and clarity of public communication deserve particular attention.

Formal education should not be treated as a measure of a trader's ability to understand the policy. The relevant question is whether information is being delivered in languages, formats and settings that enable different groups of traders to make informed decisions.

The women behind the packaging trade

Women are prominent in Ghana's markets and food vending businesses, including the sale of disposable packaging and the preparation of takeaway meals. Many operate small enterprises in which working capital is limited and daily sales help cover both business and household expenses.

For a woman who has invested her savings in a stock of takeaway containers, the deadline creates a practical dilemma. Continuing to sell prohibited products after enforcement begins could expose her to regulatory action. Switching too early, without a viable market for the remaining stock, could leave her with goods she cannot sell.

The scale of this potential financial exposure remains unclear. The EPA has not been shown, in the publicly available reporting reviewed for this article, to have published a national assessment of the number of small traders affected, the value of existing stock or the cost of switching to alternative packaging.

That evidence gap should not be filled with assumptions about women's experiences. It should prompt questions to the traders themselves.

How much have they invested in their current stock? Have their suppliers offered affordable alternatives? Do they understand the deadline? Have they received information from market leaders or local authorities? And what financial support, if any, is available to businesses that cannot easily absorb the change?

The answers will help establish whether the transition is manageable for small traders or whether some will face disproportionate costs.

A green transition needs affordable alternatives

The EPA has argued that alternatives are available. Following its Kejetia Market sensitisation exercise in August, Chief Executive Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse identified paper-based packaging, recycled aluminium foil, recyclable plastic containers and packaging made from agricultural by-products such as bamboo, rice husks and coconut fibres.

Traditional food wrapping is also being discussed as a possible option. In its October reporting, Graphic Online spoke to leaf traders who encouraged food vendors to return to wrapping certain foods in leaves, a practice that could create opportunities for their businesses.

But alternatives must work in practice, not simply exist in the marketplace.

Food vendors need packaging that can accommodate the foods they sell, withstand heat and moisture, protect food during transport and remain affordable at the quantities small businesses can purchase.

The availability of a product at a wholesaler does not automatically make it accessible to a trader buying small quantities with limited capital. Nor should every alternative be assumed to have the same environmental benefits. Its safety, durability, recyclability, production costs and disposal requirements also matter.

Government and industry therefore have a role beyond announcing the ban. Suppliers need to ensure that suitable products are available at competitive prices, while public authorities need to communicate clearly about which alternatives comply with the new rules.

The EPA's campaign must also reach the businesses that supply packaging to traders. If wholesalers continue to import or distribute prohibited products while vendors are being told to change, the transition will remain uneven.

What happens to existing stock?

One of the most immediate questions concerns products already purchased.

The EPA has warned businesses against continuing to manufacture, import or stock prohibited products in anticipation of enforcement. In its 31 August report on the policy Ghana News Agency , the Ghana News Agency quoted the Authority's leadership warning that enforcement would begin on 1 January 2027, with no further extension.

The threat of confiscation and legal action makes clarity particularly important for traders approaching the deadline with unsold goods.

Will existing stock be treated differently from new consignments? What precise arrangements will apply to confiscation and disposal? How will enforcement be communicated and carried out across markets? And what should small retailers do now if they have already purchased products they will no longer be permitted to sell?

These are questions the EPA should answer publicly, in language traders can understand, before enforcement begins.

Clear guidance would not weaken the environmental objective. It would help businesses make decisions based on the actual rules rather than rumours, uncertainty or the assumption that enforcement will never happen.

Environmental protection must account for livelihoods

Ghana has legitimate reasons to address the pollution associated with discarded polystyrene packaging. The EPA has linked the material to waste accumulation and blocked drains, while the government is positioning the ban as part of a broader effort to reduce dependence on non-biodegradable single-use plastics.

The choice is not between protecting the environment and protecting women traders. Poor waste management also affects the communities where these women live and work, while flooding and inadequate sanitation can create additional economic burdens.

The real test is whether environmental reform is accompanied by a transition that small businesses can realistically manage.

That requires more than a deadline. It requires accessible public education, affordable and suitable alternatives, clear rules on existing stock and consistent engagement with market associations, wholesalers, manufacturers and local authorities.

It also requires evidence. The EPA should publish what its sensitisation campaign has achieved, identify communities and groups that still need information, and explain how it intends to assess readiness before enforcement begins.

For women traders, the difference between receiving a warning and being prepared for a ban can be measured in money lost, prices increased and customers retained or lost.

Ghana's Styrofoam ban may mark an important step in tackling plastic pollution. But the transition will be judged not only by how many prohibited products disappear from the market. It will also be judged by whether the people whose livelihoods depend on that market have had a fair and practical opportunity to adapt.

The January deadline is approaching. The question is whether the support needed to meet it will arrive in time.