Kenya Banned Plastic Bags Making Them Illegal.

A year has passed since the African country of Kenya has banned all plastic bags and imposed stiff fines or jail time for anyone producing, selling or simply even carrying a plastic bag. The ban appears to have produced its intended effect since becoming law on August 28, 2017.

The outright ban carries penalties of four years in jail or a fine up to $40,000 for violations. Those steep penalties have created the desired effect, a drastic lessening of plastic bags littering the environment. Kenyan authorities are claiming victory and the success of the ban has caused other African nations, most notably Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan, to consider bans of their own.

Cleaner Streets

Perhaps the most noticeable effect is that streets in Kenya’s cities are noticeably cleaner. According to David Ong’are, National Environment Management Authority enforcement director, plastic bags no longer fly around when it’s indy, waterways have fewer obstructions, while fishermen are seeing few bags entangling in their nets. Before the ban, plastic bags were found in the guts of one of every 10 animals taken to slaughter. That number has also been reduced although there are no hard numbers yet to show the actual effect.

A byproduct of the ban has been a reduction of the so-called “flying toilets,” which are common in Nairobi’s shanty towns. Flying toilet are created when a homeless or other poverty-stricken individual defecates into a plastic bag and leaves it on the street or throws it onto a roof. The bags would often break open, causing a stink and a mess. Since the ban has been in effect, many more people have started using communal toilets, which cost five Kenyan shillings for a single use or 100 shillings for a month-long family pass. the ban has also raised public awareness as dumps and soccer fields that were once littered with plastic bags and other debris are now largely clean.

Effect on the Poor

Not everyone is happy about the ban, especially the poor who sell their goods cheaply at many of the daily markets within the country. One market in Nairobi has been shut down due to extensive noncompliance, while other vendors have complained that the ban is cutting into their profits. Other market vendors have complained because alternatives, such as bowls, have not been practical as contents spill easily, while bags made of sisal fiber are too expensive and cut into the profit margin of many merchants as they are six times as expensive as the plastic bags.

Instead of hundreds of people on the street carrying plastic bags, generally one will only find one or two individuals carrying bag while trying to hide them at the same time in case the authorities are watching them. While the ban has had the initial effect of cleaning up with the environment, it still needs to be refined so that its impact does not adversely affect the country’s poor who are used to using the cheap plastic alternatives.