In the toughest crack-down on single-use plastic yet, the Kenyan government has introduced a countrywide ban on the production, sale and use of plastic bags, with penalties of up to four years’ jail or fines of up to $US40,000.
Whilst critics of the ban say it will cause job losses and affect small tradespeople’s ability to sell their products, many Kenyans are pleased that the ban has finally been enforced, after ten years of government effort. Habib El-Habr, an expert on marine litter working with the UN Environment Programme in Kenya, notes that many plastic bags end up in waterways where they strangle or are eaten by marine life:
“If we continue like this, by 2050, we will have more plastic in the ocean than fish.”
Read more: Plastic bag-makers and users risk jail, fines as Kenya cracks down on pollution in ABC News
