According to the Guardian of August 28, Kenya on Monday officially implemented the world's toughest anti-plastic bag law. Kenyan citizens who produce, sell or use plastic bags could face up to four years in prison or a fine of about $40,000 (264,000 yuan). The move is part of a government effort to minimize the environmental impact of plastic bags.

According to the New York Times, Kenya announced the passage of the law in March this year, with the official implementation of the law, it also means that Kenyan supermarkets and shopping malls will be removed from the shelves of plastic bags, tourists to Kenya will also be required to leave plastic shopping bags at the airport. At present, large supermarkets in Kenya have begun to offer cloth bags as an alternative.

At present, about 500 to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year, which means that people consume more than 1 million plastic bags every minute. Therefore, more and more countries are making laws or regulations related to anti-plastic bags. Some data show that plastic bags are more and more damaging to the environment, non-degradable plastic bags will have a certain impact on the sea and soil. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), there are currently around 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in every square nautical mile.

As many plastic bags find their way into the ocean, they also affect Marine life such as sea turtles and seabirds. The Guardian even quoted Habibie, an expert with the United Nations Environment Program working in Kenya, as saying, "If people don't do something about it, we will see more plastic bags than fish in the ocean by 2050."

Since plastic bags take 500 to 1,000 years to degrade, they can easily re-enter the human food chain through fish and other animals, Habibi said, noting that cows with stomachs full of plastic bags have been found at slaughterhouses in Nairobi, Kenya.

It took Kenya 10 years from the initial discussion to the implementation of the bags. However, doubts and refutations to the "plastic ban" still exist. Some media analysis pointed out that at a time when Kenya's per capita expenditure is less than $2 per day, banning the use of plastic bags will only worsen the economic situation.

"The law could put at least 60,000 people at risk of losing their jobs and cause 178 manufacturers to go bankrupt," said Samuel, spokesman for the Kenya Manufacturers Association. "The knock-on effect will be very severe. If you ban plastic bags, how are you going to ask a housewife to bring her food home?"

At present, more than 40 countries and regions, including Kenya, China, India, the United States, Rwanda, Italy and other countries and regions have introduced policies to ban, partially ban or control the use of plastic bags. In 2007, San Francisco became the first US city to ban plastic bags, and 132 cities in more than 18 states now have partial bans on plastic bags.

From June 1, 2008, China stipulated that all supermarkets, shopping malls, market markets and other commodity retail places to implement the paid use of plastic shopping bags system, no free plastic shopping bags are allowed.

Plastic Industry Video