Accra

=== Pollution ===

Accra as a rapidly growing city, with lots of vehicles and other urban pollution sources, has also an increasing amount of air pollution and [[plastic pollution]]. Accra's urban ecosystem has been a site of dumping by international waste networks, with the [[Agbogbloshie]] suburb known for its highly toxic [[e-waste recycling]] sites, and the [[Kantamanto Market]] as handling an overwhelming flow of used [[fast fashion]] from other parts of the world.<ref name="marieclaire.com.au">{{Cite web |title=The Horrifying True Cost Of Fashion Fashion |url=https://www.marieclaire.com.au/fast-fashion-true-cost |access-date=22 April 2022 |date=22 April 2022|first=Clare |last=Press|website=Marie Claire |language=en-us}}</ref> Both sites are sources of pollution and trash for other parts of the urban ecosystem.<ref name="marieclaire.com.au"/><ref>{{Cite news |title=Activists slam Europe for dumping on Africa |work=The Hindu |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/dispatches/activists-slam-europe-for-dumping-on-africa/article38466610.ece|date=2 April 2022}}</ref>

Air pollution varies seasonally, but the average measure PM<sub>2.5</sub> average concentration of 49.5 μg/m<sup>3</sup>.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ambient air pollution and health in Accra, Ghana |url=https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240022294 |date=31 March 2021|access-date=22 April 2022 |website=www.who.int |language=en}}</ref> Live monitoring of air pollution is done at three sites in the city of Accra.<ref>{{Cite web |last=project |first=The World Air Quality Index |title=Air Pollution in Accra: Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map |url=https://aqicn.org/map/accra/ |access-date=22 April 2022 |website=aqicn.org}}</ref> A 2021 review by the [[Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana)|Environmental Protection Agency]] in Ghana found that the levels were well exceeding both national and international standards for health.<ref>{{Cite web |last=emmakd |date=8 September 2021 |title=Air pollution in Accra still high&nbsp;– EPA |url=https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2021/09/08/air-pollution-in-accra-still-high-epa/ |access-date=22 April 2022 |website=Ghana Business News |language=en-US}}</ref>

Plastic management is also an increasing challenge.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yoada |first1=Ramatta Massa |last2=Chirawurah |first2=Dennis |last3=Adongo |first3=Philip Baba |date=8 July 2014 |title=Domestic waste disposal practice and perceptions of private sector waste management in urban Accra |journal=BMC Public Health |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=697 |doi=10.1186/1471-2458-14-697 |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2458 |pmc=4226987 |pmid=25005728}}</ref> Use of plastic water bottles [[water sachets]] and other packaging for food safety, as well as the use of plastic during events like COVID-19 have significantly increased plastic pollution.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=26 June 2020 |title=Plastic Pollution in Ghana: Urban Trash Heroes |url=https://www.muntaka.com/plastic-pollution-in-ghana/ |access-date=22 April 2022 |website=Muntaka.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The beaches around Accra have significant plastic pollution, and surrounding fisheries are heavily impacted by plastics.<ref name=":4">{{Citation |last=Welle (www.dw.com) |first=Deutsche |title=Ghana: An ocean of plastic waste {{!}} DW {{!}} 18 June 2021 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ghana-an-ocean-of-plastic-waste/av-57957014 |language=en-GB |access-date=22 April 2022}}</ref> Multiple non-profit organizations have been formed to collect the plastic and an increasingly growing network of recyclers and informal waste recovery networks.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gugssa |first=Beamlak Tesfaye |url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-191431 |title=The Cycle of Solid Waste:A Case Study on the Informal Plastic and Metal Recovery System in Accra |date=2012}}</ref> However, activists and researchers largely attribute the issue to upstream use of plastics.<ref name=":4" />