The challenge
Plastic bags were clogging drains, polluting land and harming livestock.
The case
In August 2017 Kenya banned the manufacture, import, sale and use of plastic carrier bags, with fines of up to about $40,000 or prison terms of up to four years. Plastic bags largely disappeared from shops and supermarkets, and the environment agency reported that most Kenyans had stopped using them. But enforcement fell hardest on small traders, bags continued to be smuggled in from neighboring countries, and some replacement bags created their own waste problems. Kenya's National Environment Management Authority estimated that 80% of the population had stopped using plastic carrier bags after the ban was introduced.
Why the results were mixed
A strict, well-publicized ban quickly changed what shops handed out. Penalties that hit the poorest sellers hardest, and porous borders, limited how fair and complete it was.
Sources
- UN Environment Programme (2018). Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability.
- Guinness World Records: Most severe plastic-bag penalties (citing Kenya's National Environment Management Authority).
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