Plastic bags will be illegal in Tanzania from June 2019. The new laws put fines and jail terms for anyone who imports, exports, manufactures, sells, stores, distributes, supplies, and uses plastic bags and plastic wrappings of any thickness. Plastic bags are a big contributor to pollution and Tanzania joins the 60 countries who have measures banning and controlling plastic bags. 

As of 2018, about 380 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide each year. From the 1950s up to 2018, an estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced worldwide. An estimated 9% of this waste has been recycled and another 12% has been incinerated. The rest of the waste ends up in landfills and waterways, contaminating the soil and water bodies. These plastics are non-biodegradable.

Bangladesh was the first country to introduce a total ban on plastics which it did in 2002. Since then, China, Israel, South Africa, Netherlands, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Albania and Georgia have since implemented similar bans. Kenya was particularly  lauded for imposing the world harshest plastic bag ban in the world where punishment for carrying plastics bags includes heavy penalties and jail terms and manufacturing and importing plastic bags attract penalties ranging between $19,000 and $38,000 and jail terms of up to 4 years.