08/07/2022
Do you think we should implement a strict ban with heavy penalties too?
Before the ban was introduced in 2017, grocery stores in Kenya were handing out over 100 million bags per year, despite a lack of waste disposal infrastructure to keep them out of the environment.
Plastic bags clogged waterways and drainage systems, which made flooding worse during the rainy season. More than half of all cattle near cities and towns had plastic in their stomachs, according to a government-supported study, and in Nairobi, some slaughterhouses were removing up to 20 plastic bags from inside cows.
Kenya, is considered to have the strictest penalties in the world, making manufacturing, importing or selling single-use carriers punishable by a prison sentence of up to four years or fines up to $40,000. Anyone caught using them also faces a fine, which so far has been between $300 and $1,500, and a possible prison sentence of up to a year.
Unfortunately, plastic trash hasn’t disappeared entirely from Kenya over the past two years ― especially in poorer areas ― despite the plastic bag ban and efforts to curb illegal imports. But according to an internal assessment by Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), 80% of the population has stopped using plastic carrier bags since the ban was adopted.
These initiatives have led other African countries to introduce a complete ban on lightweight plastic bags. In total, according to a United Nations December 2018 report, there are 34 bag bans or taxes across the African continent.
Across the U.S., more than 400 cities and states have bag bans or taxes on plastic bags. And since 2021, the European Union’s has banned single-use plastic items like straws, forks, spoons and plates.
Source: HuffPost
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