Kenyans producing, selling or fifty-fifty using plastic bags volition run a endangerment imprisonment of upward to iv years or fines of $40,000 from Monday, equally the world's toughest law aimed at reducing plastic pollution came into effect.
The East African nation joins to a greater extent than than xl other countries that conduct maintain banned, partly banned or taxed unmarried purpose plastic bags, including China, France, Rwanda, together with Italy.
Many bags drift into the ocean, strangling turtles, suffocating seabirds together with filling the stomachs of dolphins together with whales amongst waste materials until they choke of starvation.
"If nosotros move along similar this, yesteryear 2050, nosotros volition conduct maintain to a greater extent than plastic inwards the sea than fish," said Habib El-Habr, an skillful on marine litter working amongst the U.N. Environment Programme inwards Kenya.
Plastic bags, which El-Habr says conduct maintain betwixt 500 to 1,000 years to interruption down, also come inwards the human nutrient chain through fish together with other animals. In Nairobi's slaughterhouses, to a greater extent than or less cows destined for human consumption had xx bags removed from their stomachs.
"This is something nosotros didn't teach 10 years agone only forthwith its close on a daily basis," said county vet Mbuthi Kinyanjui equally he watched men inwards bloodied white uniforms scoop sodden plastic bags from the stomachs of moo-cow carcases.
Kenya's law allows police describe to become afterward anyone fifty-fifty carrying a plastic bag. But Judy Wakhungu, Kenya's surroundings minister, said enforcement would initially live directed at manufacturers together with suppliers.
"Ordinary wananchi volition non live harmed," she told Reuters, using a Kiswahili give-and-take for "common man".
It took Republic of Kenya 3 attempts over 10 years to finally top the ban, together with non everyone is a fan.
Samuel Matonda, spokesman for the Republic of Kenya Association of Manufacturers, said it would terms 60,000 jobs together with forcefulness 176 manufacturers to close. Republic of Kenya is a major exporter of plastic bags to the region.
"The knock-on effects volition live real severe," Matonda said.
"It volition fifty-fifty touching on the women who sell vegetables inwards the marketplace - how volition their customers behave their shopping home?"
Big Kenyan supermarket chains similar France's Carrefour together with Nakumatt conduct maintain already started offering customers stuff bags equally alternatives.
Reuters