One Year Since the Ban on Plastic Bags in Kenya, Has the Purpose Been Served?

Kenyans applauded the move by the government to ban plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging terming it as a great move to curb the plastic bag menace that had hit the country for a very long time.

Through a gazette notice, the then Cabinet Secretary for Environment Prof. Judy Wakhungu announced a total ban on the use, manufacture, and import of all plastic bags, which took effect in September 2017.

The news of the ban was received positively as various Kenyans and stakeholders took to their social media accounts to commend the cabinet secretary for the ban.

Across urban areas, hawkers celebrated the boom of selling bags made from alternative packaging materials including biodegradable paper and cloth.

Inside supermarkets, the cost of acquiring the eco-friendly bags and supply hitches forced some retail outlets to limit the number per customer. Most supermarkets in Nairobi charged their customers between 50 shillings and 30 shillings per bag, while others encouraged them to bring their own shopping bags.

A report from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) disclosed that over 24 million plastic bags were used every month in Kenya, half of which ended up in the solid waste mainstream.

The UN Environment, on the other hand, estimated that 100 million plastic bags were handed out every year in Kenya by supermarkets alone. These plastic bags could then end up being poorly disposed on the roadsides, in trenches and illegal dumping sites, something that had turned out to be the norm amongst Kenyans.

One year on after Kenya announced the world’s toughest ban on plastic bags, the authorities are claiming a victory that has even made some other African countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and South Sudan to think of following suit.

But it is equally clear that there have been significant knock-on effects on businesses, consumers and even jobs as a result of removing a once-ubiquitous feature of Kenyan life.

According to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, more than 170 plastic manufacturing industries in Kenya employed over 60,000 people. This meant that with the ban in place, these people remained jobless.

In East Africa, Rwanda has turned out to be the only country to have successfully implemented a total ban on plastic bags. Rwanda banned the use of non-biodegradable polythene bags in 2008. The ban was a blessing as today Rwanda is one of the cleanest countries in Africa. The streets of Kigali are free of mountains of rubbish made up of plastic waste.

Despite Kenya implementing the ban, there are smugglers who make their way across the Kenyan borders to sell plastic bags in the black market. These smugglers get the bags from Uganda and when one walks around some estates especially in Nairobi, small traders still pack goods for customers using these illegal bags.

While plastic bag smuggling remains an issue in Kenya, local authorities have vowed to crack down on those who defy the law.