REVIEW AND AFTERMATH OF THE PLASTIC PAPER BAG BAN IN KENYA

INTRODUCTION: THE PLASTIC BAN AS A SUSTAINABLE ACTION

The plastic paper ban is a policy enforced in Kenya banning the use, manufacture and importation of plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging. This revolutionary policy was enforced in 2017 and was spearheaded by the National Environmental Management Authority. This strategy provides an insight into how the law can be used to appreciate sustainable actions by governments throughout the world.

What makes this policy remarkable is how harsh it is in that it imposes fines of $19417 -$38,834, four years in prison or both.

WHY SUCH A HARSH POLICY?

The rapid production of plastic and its intrinsic nature to resist natural degradation catalyzed the plastic ban policy. Much of the plastic that was made 13 years ago still exists to this day. Further, the negative effects of plastic pollution are numerous. For instance, marine plastic debris washing up along Kenya’s coast pose a hazard for nesting turtles, especially when the turtles mistake plastic bottles for jellyfish, their natural food.

EFFECTS OF THE PLASTIC BAN AS A SUSTAINABLE ACTION

The effects of the plastic ban policy were immediately noticeable. The environment was cleaner than it was before, but not as much as one would expect. This is because the plastic that was already there has not been dealt with.

For instance, a preexisting hazard of plastic paper bags of “flying toilets”, no longer exists. This is where people use paper bags as toilets and throw them over rooftops or busy streets. This was especially common in slum areas.

The ban has also spurred the making of bio degradable shopping bags as temporary solutions to fill the void left by the plastic bags. However this hasn’t been enough and plastic pollution is still rampant in Kenya.

WHAT IS KENYA DOING WRONG?

Data from Kenya’s Ministry of Environment reveals that more than 3.9 million plastic papers are being used and released into the environment every single day. This revelation is sobering as it poses the question of where does all this plastic go? Looking into the streets of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, provides a vivid answer to this question. The city is littered with plastic waste. This is not to say that the policy ban has not been effective, because it has. Plastic bags are no longer available except those legally authorized. Rather, the dilemma proves that the most consistent challenge in dealing with plastic is dealing with the plastic waste that is already existing within the environment. To solve such a problem, crucial habits such as efficient collection and recycling of plastic waste must be implemented. Kenya has no practical means of dealing with garbage collection that is currently working.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO SUSTAINABLE ACTIONS BY SOCIETY

Not all laws require such drastic measures by a state. The Philippines…in the same light, enacted a law requiring all students to plant 10 trees just before they graduate from school. This includes elementary, high school, university and graduate schools. The result will be 525 billion trees planted by across a generation of students in the Philippines. This is a simple yet practical solution to how citizens play a critical role in preserving the environment.

One of the most brilliant and practical solutions to dealing with waste in the environment lies in the example of Rwanda. The country has a compulsory national clean-up day, every last Saturday of the month called, “Umuganda”, which means, coming together for a common purpose. It encompasses all able bodied people from the age of 18-65 including the president, coming together to clean up litter. The world, and Kenya could borrow this strategy to aid implementation of environmentally conscious policies. No such policy exists in Kenya at the moment. For example, with the plastic ban in force, the clean-up could work to collect plastics dumped into the environment, which could then be recycled.

This integration of policy and implementation with contributions from every member of the society is why Rwanda is one of the cleanest countries in the world.

THE WAY FORWARD

The answer to durable and lasting sustainable actions lies in the integration of policy with innovation to provide practical alternatives to pollutants. With an absence of this, policy would be ineffective. What is crucial is understanding that sustainable solutions are progressive, taking time, and as such the results of these actions might be felt years to come. Most crucially, the idea that by working together as people, we can reduce and potentially eradicate the environmental challenges, such as plastic pollution, that we face today provides hope for a sustainable future for all generations.

REFERENCES

https://www.nema.go.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=281&catid=2&Itemid=432

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/nairobi-clean-up-highs-lows-kenyas-plastic-bag-ban

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nation.co.ke/news/War-on-plastics-not-over/1056-4221978-view-asAMP-8oo7fq/index.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/How-ban-on-plastic-bags-inspired-innovators/2560-4710116-view-asAMP-vjsdnsz/index.html

https://inhabitat.com/philippine-students-must-plant-10-trees-to-graduate-new-law-says/

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/07/18/628364015/how-rwanda-tidied-up-its-streets-and-the-rest-of-the-country-too

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/07/18/628364015/how-rwanda-tidied-up-its-streets-and-the-rest-of-the-country-too