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  UNEP News Centre, 23 Feb 05
Plastic Bag Ban in Kenya Proposed as Part of New Waste Strategy
 full story | Report on Employing Economic Instruments in Solid Waste Management in Kenya

Excerpts

Nairobi, 23 February 2005 – Flimsy plastic shopping bags should be banned and a hefty levy slapped on thicker ones to rid Kenya of an increasing environmental and health menace, a report released today urges.

At least two million plastic bags are now being handed out each year to people shopping at supermarkets and kiosks in Nairobi alone, the study by experts at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) says.

The bags, many of which are so thin they are simply thrown away after one trip from the shops, have become a familiar eyesore in both urban and countryside areas. Plastic bags also block gutters and drains, choke farm animals and marine wildlife and pollute the soil as they gradually break down.

Wangari Mathaai, the assistant environment minister in Kenya and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has also linked plastic bag litter with malaria. The bags, when discarded, can fill with rainwater offering ideal and new breeding grounds for the malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

A ban on bags less than 30 microns thick and the levy on thicker ones are among a raft of proposals aimed at reducing the use of polythene bags and providing funds for alternative, more environmentally-friendly, carriers such as cotton or sisel bags. Cash raised from the levy would also go towards the setting up of efficient and effective re-cycling schemes, says the report funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) of Kenya.

Operating the plastic bag levy could become a blue-print for similar schemes aimed at the rising tide of other wastes confronting Kenya and countries across Africa and the developing world.

The proposal is contained in a report, Selection, Design and Implementation of Economic Instruments in the Kenyan Solid Waste Management Sector, authored by KIPPRA’s Moses Ikiara and Clive Mutunga. The report’s findings, launched at a meeting of UNEP’s Governing Council where over 100 environment ministers have gathered, are based on the outcome of

Plastic bags can be the start, the test bed, to what I hope will be wide ranging and creative action cut pollution and stimulate new, modern, businesses and jobs here,” he added.

Mr Toepfer also launched today a UNEP children’s book entitled Theo and the Giant Plastic Ball written by Carole Douglis and illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway. It is the second book in a series under the UNEP Tunza Environmental Series which aims to inspire caring for the Earth through creative literature that sparks the interest and awareness of children, their parents and teachers.

The story, in which a boy called Theo, alerts communities to the menace of discarded plastic bags by collecting and rolling them into a giant ball, is aimed at educating children in a lively and engaging away about how they can take action for a cleaner, healthier world.

Plastic Bags in Kenya

An estimated 4,000 tonnes of the thin plastic bags, known in the report as “flexibles”, are produced each month in Kenya mainly for shopping purposes but also for products like bread. About half of them are less than 15 microns thick and some are as little as seven microns thick. The industry is growing at between eight and ten per cent a year supplying both the local market and nearby countries in particular Uganda.

“With the exception of some paper bags, there are hardly any alternatives to plastic shopping bags. Shopping bags made from natural products are available in the market but are hardly used because of the easy and free availability of plastic shopping bags in market outlets and the low price which they are sold in outdoor markets,” says the report.

Lessons from Abroad

In 2002, Ireland imposed a 15-euro cent levy or surcharge on plastic bags provided by stores and shops. It is estimated that this has reduced the use of plastic bags by 90 per cent. The revenue raised goes to an Environmental Fund which plans to spend 35 million euros on recycling centres. The introduction of the so called PlasTax scheme has been backed up by public awareness campaigns.

In Australia, the retailer IKEA put a 10 cent charge on its plastic bags while also providing a re-usable alternative. It reports a 97 per cent drop in the use of plastic bags.

Rwanda has banned plastics less than 100 microns thick and backed this up with public awareness campaigns. The black plastic bag has disappeared from Kigali.

In 2003 South Africa banned plastic bags thinner than 30 microns and introduced a plastics levy some of which goes to a plastic bag recycling company. It has witnessed a decrease in bag litter, a reduction in the manufacture of plastic bags with some layoffs and a growth in alternatives such as canvass bags.

A Plastic Bag Strategy for Kenya
A seven point plan for tackling plastic bags in Kenya is proposed. It includes:
• A ban on the 30 micron or less bags;
• Consumer and anti-littering campaigns;
• A plastic bag levy collected from suppliers with the costs passed on to the consumer;
• The levy would be partially targeted to support the development of environmentally-friendly bags such as cotton ones which would have the double benefit of helping Kenya’s cotton agriculture and industry;
• Support for a proper plastic bags recycling scheme.
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