Plastic Bags Ban

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Our country seems to be running on plastic bags, from supermarkets, retail shops, local markets and even in our own homes, plastic bags have become a part of our lives. However this has presented us with a menace that has become a concern from various quarters, due to careless dumping of used plastic bags.


Recently, the government banned the use, manufacture and importation of plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging and gave a 6 month window period for the law to become effective. The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources Prof. Judi Wakhungu on the 15th of March 2017 passed a gazette notice on the ban and this will be effective come 28th of August 2017.
The banned plastic bags are in two categories namely:
  • Carrier bags – constructed with handles, and with or without gussets
  • Flat bags – constructed without handles, and with or without gussets


Manufacturers have argued that this will spell doom for their industries as well as putting thousands of job and livelihoods at risk. Its about time we start thinking of ways to survive without the plastic bags. There are predictions that if action is not taken we would have more plastic in the ocean than fish come the year 2050.
I believe we do need a proper waste management policy in place to make our environment cleaner, not just banning the use of plastic bags. Its an applaud-able move by the government to ban the plastic bags and this will go a long way to care for the environment.

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