Anyone who has ever burned plastic bags knows of its toxic smells. Just the smell of incinerated plastics can give you an idea of the toxicity of the substance. The chemicals in the plastic can be divided into three parts including the ingredients for manufacture, the by-products of manufacturing, and chemicals adsorbed by plastic. Some of the common harmful chemicals in plastics include Bisphenol A, Polyurethanes (PUR), polyacrylonitriles (PAN), and polyvinyl chlorides (PVC).  It has been established that the chemicals in plastics could disrupt hormones that are crucial for healthy existence. Additionally, plastics act as magnets for other range of poisons and pollutants.

Bangladesh implemented a ban in 2002. Before the ban, there was a widespread fallacy that plastic bans and taxes would disproportionately harm poor nations and people who relied on the ‘free’ or inexpensive plastic paper bags to carry their belongings. As of April 2019, Africa led the bans with 34 countries implementing bans and taxes. 31 of the countries were in sub-Saharan Africa, among the world’s poorest regions. Kenya implemented a ban in 2017. Its ban is among the most punitive with violators facing up to 4 years in prisons and/or US$ 38,000 in fines for using or distributing plastics.

Generally, the bans have proven to be a success in reducing the number of plastic wastes generated. For instance, Denmark passed the first plastic bag tax in 1993 and on average, a person uses four plastic bags a year. In contrast, a person in the United States uses 300 bags a year.

The bans of plastic bags often spawn to the bans of other products such as plates, cups, cutlery, straws, and bottles. Single-use plastics account to 40% of the plastics manufactured on the global scale.

Despite the numerous bans on the product, plastic bags are still ubiquitous in many parts of the world. Part of the reason for the limited success of the bans is the political opposition to the bans. Additionally, the WRI (2018) report that over 90% of the countries implementing bans favored partial over total bans. Partial bans have various exceptions on thicknesses and usability. For instance, In Kenya, companies can use plastic bags to package their products as long as they label them.

At Silvica, we believe that responsible consumer behavior is key in addressing the issues of plastic menace. If consumers are to increasingly shun plastic packaged products, the industry will be forced to comply. But, the issue is not as easy as that. Plastic is probably the cheapest form of packaging and consumers will often prefer cheaper products. Talk of conundrums!

The primary purpose of the ban was to reduce plastic pollution in the country. Although the convenience of plastic bags is virtually unmatched, it also brings extraordinary environmental problems. For instance, the material doesn’t biodegrade and would most likely end up in the ocean leading to devastating consequence to the marine life.

In theory, some of the plastic wastes could be recycled. However, only 1-3% of plastic is recycled in practice. The rest of the plastic is ubiquitous in landfills, oceans and the streets. The pollution is not only present at the disposal stage as its production process is also a concern. Plastic production uses up to 8% of global oil resources.

Kenya banned plastic because of the environmental problems associated with it. The plastic bags were, and are still an eyesore, in some of the major towns in Kenya. The eyesore was also present in some of Kenya’s unrivaled natural heritage sites such as the beautiful Masai Mara.  For the residents of cities such as Nairobi, plastic bags were a major contributor to the blockage of drainages leading to flooding. Numerous reports have also shown that plastic bags were eaten by livestock and wildlife to their detriment. Moreover, they also presented public health risks as reusing plastic is a hotbed for pathogens.

The decision to ban plastic in Kenya was certainly welcome by a variety of stakeholders including environmentalists and public health professionals.