East African ban on plastics bags

[Jonny]

East African ban on plastics bags

Kenya and Uganda have banned the use of thin plastic bags in an effort to curb environmental damage.

Ugandan Finance Minister Ezra Suruma 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 budget, following Rwanda and Tanzania.

The BBC's Juliet Njeri in Nairobi says discarded plastic bags are often seen by the roadside in residential areas.

She also says that there is a problem with bags blocking drains in the city.

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.

Immediate effect

The Ugandan minister said the ban was being introduced because of "serious environmental concerns and difficulties in the disposal of plastic bags and plastic containers."

The ban will take effect in Kenya at the stroke of midnight on Thursday 14 June.

In Uganda, Mr Suruma said the ban would come into effect on 1 July but gave traders until 30 September this year to sell off products already in stock.

Rwanda, which was admitted into the East African Community this year, banned the importation and use of plastics less than 100 microns thick in 2005.
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BBC

 

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Opportunities are never lost, someone will take the ones you miss.

[Mariam]

Finally!! Thank God!!! should have been done five or ten years ago!! better late than never, though.

[ajmushi]

Mariam I noticed you quickly embraced this changes and I suppose you got very good reasons for that.

I am aware of the environmental friendliness that these changes could bring but what I am not sure is the economical effect. What does this translate down to the pockets of the consumers?? Is the alternative going to be cost efficient as well or this is just another scam of making a few people rich by monopolizing the market? .

I have not paid much attention to this matter but from the brief reading some of the key points made were hardship of disposing current plastic bags, problem of clogging drains and cluttering up the cities. To me all these points seem to be non-relevant to the plastic density but rather something to do with people sanity for disposing the material. What has plastic density got to do with recycling??

I think emphasis should be been placed on promoting sanitation and recycling programs were the general concept of throwing bags on the streets will slowly transition to collecting them for recycling. Failure to do so will result the same effect of the above mentioned problems and could become a costlier alternative for the consumer.

How is it that the thin density bags are the mostly used in the first world countries and they recycle them just like other plastic material? I think it’s mostly to do with economical factors.

 

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AjM

[Mariam]

AjMushi,

Sorry I haven't been in Kforum for a while so I didn't realize you asked/said something. I am tempted to agree with your speculation that I have got very good reasons to embrace the changes. Please allow me to talk more as a citizen of the world rather than an African here. I believe in environmental sustainability and Plastic bags clog drains and cause flooding, they pollute rivers and streams, killing animals and destroy our plants - animals such as turtles, ingest plastic bags or are strangled by them, plus many others especially in marine environments where plastic bags resemble jellyfish and other food items. Over 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish every year, I just can't remember the numbers but Africa I think leads the death toll and we need to act fast.

Plastic bags take years to photodegrade and have a very short life span. Most plastic bags are made up of non-degradable, non-renewable resources and most never biodgredes, which contribute to the desertification of land by stifling the soil and make it unfavourable for all plant growth as these plastics won't decompose. It is estimated that plastic bags have a life span of 50 to 100 years, that means the bags can clog the soil for up to a century, taking a severe toll on plant life, a single use plastic bags made of high density form remain in the environment for up to approx. 1,000 years, then add to this the growing suspicion that plastic use may lead to serious health problems since they are believed to be carcinogen. They're made from fossil fuels and although we will run out of oil eventually, but we'll always have our plastic garbage.

I understand your concern, but many countries and cities (including some in the USA) have already implemented very similar legislation to what African nations are doing now. I learnt a while back that in the US alone where you could think recycling is doing well, it is said only 1-2% of 100 billion bags used a year is being recycled!!! Now take a guess what will it take to recycle them and just to bring awareness in Africa!!!!

Believe it or not, the economic effects of using plastic bags are more dangerous than a brief and shallow explanations given on the article above. Plastics are used because they are easy and cheap to make and they can last a long time. Unfortunately these same useful qualities can make plastic a huge pollution problem. The cheapness means plastic gets discarded easily and its long life means it survives in the environment for long periods where it can do great harm. Because plastic does not decompose, and requires high energy ultra-violet light to break down, the amount of plastic waste in many oceans is steadily increasing. Plastic bags impose great danger to ecosystem which is a scourge that everyone in the society has a social responsibility to tackle.

Talking about economical factors; how about trying the old traditional reusable raffia bags? Perhaps the road to the future may also involve revisiting past customs when these baskets were the norm, not plastic bags. These are a great eco-friendly alternative to plastic shopping bags that threaten a healthy eco-system. Promoting sanitation and recycling programs are the great ways to control the problem, however, they are as costlier with stagering effects. The economical drawbacks you show concerns about and substitute solutions you emphasize on all take off the important issue which is CONSUMPTION, getting into the habit of bringing your own shopping bag can slash this problem across the board. Manufacturing plastic is known to be resource-intensive and yields various nasty emissions that contribute to global warming and degradation of water quality.

You also raised a question that "What has plastic density got to do with recycling?? " The plastic density is important, I will assume you didn't take Chemisty in Sec/High School. Density is a Scientific term for compactness, which is the amount of mass in a material compared to its volume. A large mass with a small volume means that the material is more compact or dense than a small mass with a large volume. Plastic bags are not created equal because they are meant for different purposes; some plastic bags are stronger than others, for example bags from clothing stores at the mall tend to be strong and thick, whereas those from local grocery store are flimsy and thin, and those wispy, clear bags from the dry cleaner.

There are many types of plastic bags, all designed for different purposes. Petroleum and natural gas are the primary sources of the key ingredients in plastic which is Polyethylene. It is being taught that, Plastic bags are made from one of three basic types: high-density polyethylene (HDPE) (grocery bags), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) (garment bags from the dry cleaner), or linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) (thick, glossy shopping bags); The major difference known between these three materials is the degree of branching of the polymer chain. HDPE and LLDPE are composed of linear, unbranched chains, while LDPE chains are branched.

[tyk]

In Tanzania a similar ban was introduced last year. It was not a total ban rather an attempt to limit the use of the bags by taking off the market 'smaller' versions of the bag. The effect is like: you need to launch a research to even realize there has been any ban. The folks whose livelihood are intertwined in the trade/use of the bags simply devised a number of workarounds. The supposed alternative which is to use paper bags has it's own drawbacks, particularly on the environment. I guess more emphasis need to be put into changing shopping habits. Like convince people to use 'vikapu' time and again rather than a supposedly disposable plastic bag. A 'kikapu' could be made of plastic too, but then you can use the same again and again unlike a bag. Not many years back nobody knew about plastic bags but we did shop just fine.

[Mariam]

exactly TYK, thank you!

I agree with you, this is the reason I also suggested going back and revisit past customs of carrying raffia/baskets/vikapu...they are attractive anyways:-)

[ajmushi]

Mariam thanks for the well researched detailed response. A point you might have missed on my question was actually based on the ban restriction from the first posting. I do understand plastic does not decompose and it’s even harder to get rid of the thicker polymers and the solution offered is not a balanced equation.

[Mariam]

AjMushi,

I can't answer for the UG minister but if I was one and had to pose tax at the higher bracket then most likely would be to discourage the consumption/import of such bags. It would be easier to ban the free bags which most of the time are the ones made up of non-recycled materials and are consumed at such a scary number while they don't end up collected as it may seem. Most thicker bags are made up of recycled materials, and also if you look, the thinner bags are used in larger quantities and since they are thin, one may sometimes need them doubled just for a couple or three items, while the thicker can put a lot more in it and also can be used numerous times. So I would say you tax the thicker in higher margins since it's the lesser evil. It's not that I advocate any type of plastic bags (high or low density). Also we have to remember ban on plastic bags and higher taxes are not only done in Africa.

Aso, I think I got your point on economic effect, what you missed is my intentions to show you that you may be saving consumer's pockets on plastic bags while forgetting drawbacks on other things, it's a vicious cycle here and you can't focus only on free plastic bags offered at the supermarket while prices go up for your seafood since the sea is polluted and can't give out enough or vegetables at the market because the land isn't favorable to grow plants or that your tourism sector is deteriorating because you don't get tourists for a mere reason that you don't have species/environment you used to have before to attract them, keep in mind an increased list of endangered animals and plants...in my opinion, you can't really talk about the economical benefits of using plastic/paper bags while both are detrimental to the environment, they use natural resources and are produced and consumed in large quantities which make it worse..... they cost us big time somewhere else as a result and cause more harm to the society.

The tradition vikapu are also in different sizes, so you don't have to carry the ones you would need to use for a month's long groceries only for one bottle of baby's formula! The government has the responsibility to watch for the welbeing of its people and environment...

[Jonny]

I don't think banning the use of plastic bags is the right answer especially since no equal/ similar alternative is available or being offered to those whose lives and businesses depend on them.
Maybe the right answer would be to find creative ways of disposing the plastic bags.
In the U.S they use variety of plastic bags and containers. Since there is no active ban in the US, I can only assume that they have creative ways of disposing the plastics.
Does anyone have any information on this?

Here is a creative solution that Niger applied back in 2005. Maybe this can be aplied for TZ and East Africa as a whole......


Niger Paves Over Its Garbage Problem With Plastic-Bag Bricks
Niamey, Niger (AFP) Nov 27, 2005

It's a familiar joke across Niger that the national bird of the northwest African desert state is a black plastic bag, winging its way from market stall to trash heap to flock to the bare-branched trees around the dusty capital.

In an effort to clean up its capital city and surrounding countryside for a hoped-for tourist boom, Niger is following the example set in Europe and around Africa by trying to curb the pollution caused by the ubiquitous single-use plastic bag.

Kenya and South Africa have made the thin and flimsy plastic bag illegal, while in Benin, plastic bags are recycled to make colourful bracelets or handbags.

But for the rest of the world, plastic bags are now consumed in staggering numbers and are responsible for massive disposal problems including unsightly litter and flooding.

Made of polyethylene, they are also hazardous to manufacture and take up to 1,000 years to decompose.

Rather than going to a ban or to bangles, Niger is turning its bags into filler for its perpetually crumbling roads.

In an experimental project financed by the European Union, bricks of the plastic sacks are being used to fill potholes around Niamey.

The government of Niger buys used plastic bags for 25 CFA francs, (about three cents) per kilo, then compresses them with a new ceramic mold technology and binds them into bricks.

"Weve found a system that works remarkably well," explained EU expert Paolo Gigli.

"The bags are melted and transformed into bricks with a cement mold, which saves time and money. The plastic bricks are then used to fill a pothole, and covered with earth or cement."

Gigli said the cost of the bricks is but a fraction of traditional road works, allowing the world's poorest country to do more to restore its haphazard road network.

An experimental batch was used to fill a pothole the size of a car in downtown Niamey in May. The covered area show no sign of erosion or weather damage, although the plastic bricks have not yet had to withstand extensive friction.

"We know this system is perfect for roads with little traffic, and we suspect it will hold up well to heavier trucks and buses," said Gigli. "Only time will tell."

To pave an entire kilometer of road will take roughly 40 tonnes of the molded bags and in just five months, more than 600 tonnes of bags have been collected.

"We can fit 45 plastic bricks in one square meter, costs are minimal, jobs are created and roads are improved," said Gigli.

But the bricks should not be seen as paving Niger's streets with gold, nor as a magic bullet for the plastic problem, he warned.

"Plastic bags are not about to disappear if they remain cheap to make, readily available to shoppers, and simple to toss out into the street," he said.
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Opportunities are never lost, someone will take the ones you miss.

[Mariam]

I urge you guys to read this, not for the matter of arguing but to be more informed, I recognize it's long but worth reading...especially the last part about where the recycled trash goes!!!!

[Mariam]

Come on guys, I thought my last response would provoke some kind of an uproar!! Did you see among many countries importing trash from abroad that Tanzania and South Africa made into the list?????

I thought this clip is worth sharing:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=49750&cl=3289922&ch=61492&src=news

[Mariam]

[quote="Mariam"]Come on guys, I thought my last response would provoke some kind of an uproar!! Did you see among many countries importing trash from abroad that Tanzania and South Africa made into the list?????

the clip on that site shows more states in the US looking forward to ban plastic materials directly or indirectly, here is bottled water...and this is the paragraph I meant from above: the list of recipients of trash:-

"During 1991, U.S. recycling companies sent over 35 million pounds of plastic waste to Indonesia. The majority of this went to two cities on the island of Java Jakarta and Surabaya. The U.S. exported over 200 million pounds of plastic waste last year to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, according to statistics compiled by Greenpeace from the records of a private company, the Port Import/Export Research Service. The list of recipients includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, S. Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, and Trinidad & Tobago. "