East African countries have joined others banning the use and import of thin plastic bags, for environmental reasons as well as to clean up their countries for tourists.
Kenya and Tanzania ban plastic bags
Ugandan Finance Minister Ezra Suruma has recently banned the importation and use of the thinnest bags and imposed a 120% tax on thicker ones in his new budget.
The Kenyan finance minister imposed similar restrictions in his latest budget, following Rwanda and Tanzania.
Tanzania set the pace for the East African Community in 2006, when Vice-President Ali Mohamed Shein announced a total ban on plastic bags and ordered a switch to recyclable materials or biodegradable alternatives.
"These measures are expected to encourage the industry players to devise environmentally friendlier and hopefully recyclable bags," Kenyan Finance Minister Amos Kimunya announced in the capital, Nairobi.
Zanzibar bans plastic bags
Zanzibar banned the bags last year saying discarded bags damage the marine environment and hurt its crucial tourism industry. The government suggested the use of raffia bags as an alternative.
"We have to put the environment above everything," Zanzibar's Director of Environment Ali Juma said. “Besides being an eyesore, plastic bags are very damaging to land and marine life and we are already threatened by the rapid pace of development.”
He said that anyone violating the ban risked a jail sentence of up to six months or a fine of $2,000 or both punishments.
But the other side of the coin is the matter of lost revenue, because while it is environmentally advantageous to ban the plastic bags, the Zanzibar government is set to lose $400,000 per month on bags destined for the local market, businessman Salim Turky explained.
Rwanda bans plastic bags
Earlier last year Rwanda cracked down on the use of plastic bags by shoppers.
Environment Minister, Drocella Mugorewera said that anyone using plastic bags was breaking a recent law on environmental protection aimed at cleaning up cities. She said that people must use paper bags or baskets instead.
Theoretically the idea is great but locals are experiencing problems - some market traders complain that products such as fish and meat cannot be carried in paper bags and that paper bags are up to five times more expensive than plastic ones.
In 2004, thousands of people were encouraged to take the day off work to help pick up some of the plastic bags which littered the country. Shops have been banned from giving plastic bags to their customers and police are reportedly stopping plastic-bag users in the street.
South Africa bans plastic bags
Known at one time as the county’s “national flower” because of the fact that they were stuck to almost every surface, the multi-colored, thin, flimsy plastic bags were outlawed in South Africa in 2003. They were seen on every fence, in every gutter in every drain – blowing in the wind – killing and maiming animals and birds, blocking drains and polluting the environment.
Retailers handing out the bags now face a fine of 100,000 rand ($13,800) or a 10-year jail sentence. The legislation means shoppers would either have to take bags with them when they go shopping, or buy new, thick, stronger plastic bags that are easier and more profitable to recycle.
Now consumers can buy the thicker plastic bags at check-outs if they haven’t brought their own along. The streets are certainly much cleaner and shoppers have learned to bring their own cloth bags or to re-use the thicker plastic bags that are for sale at check-outs.
