Kenya bans manufacture and use of plastic paper bags

The government has banned the use, manufacture and importation of all plastic bags for commercial and household packaging.

This follows a move by the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Prof Judy Wakhungu, to gazette the ban that will see the country eradicate the plastic paper bags menace.

The plastic paper bags have been categorised as the leading cause of poor drainage and environmental degradation.

Through a Gazette Notice dated March 14, 2017, the carrier bags manufactured with handles or without patches will not be put to use six months from now.

The law is set to take effect from August 28, 2017.