Kenya has issued the world's toughest plastic ban, making it illegal to produce, sell and use plastic bags.

According to the new regulations, the use, manufacture and import of all plastic bags for commercial and household use are strictly prohibited in Kenya. Violators will be punished by one to four years in prison or a fine of between $19,000 and $38,000. On its website, the Chinese Embassy in Kenya reminded Chinese citizens not to bring plastic bags into Kenya, and not to use them when shopping, traveling and disposing of daily household garbage.

Although ordinary people will face penalties for using plastic bags, Judy Wakhungu, Kenya's environment minister, said that for now, the ban is primarily aimed at manufacturers and sellers. Although primary plastic bags for industrial use are not currently banned, it is a foregone conclusion that plastic bags will be withdrawn from the Kenyan market. Kenya's major supermarket chains such as Carrefour and Nakuma are already offering cloth bags to customers.

In Africa, 15 countries have previously introduced "plastic ban" or "plastic limit". East African countries have started early in restricting the use of plastic bags, with Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania all having varying degrees of bans. Rwanda, for example, banned plastic bags from shops in 2004 and encouraged manufacturers to recycle them through tax breaks. In 2008, the country banned plastic bags altogether, giving its capital, Kigali, a facelift that earned it the "cleanest city in Africa" designation by UN-Habitat. In June, the East African parliament passed legislation restricting the use of polyethylene. This has led to the introduction of the strictest plastic ban in Kenya's history.

In 2007 and 2010, Kenya introduced two "plastic ban", but neither was effectively enforced, this time finally passed. The Kenyan government said the ban was aimed at protecting the environment and eliminating the multiple hazards of plastic bags.

Kenyan supermarkets hand out 100 million plastic bags a year, according to the United Nations Environment Program. The Kenyan government says plastic bags cause a lot of pollution to the environment, clogging sewers and waterways and being difficult to break down. In 2016 alone, 24 tons of plastic waste bags were collected in Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park. In the Kibera slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, plastic bags can be seen among mountains of rubbish.

The United Nations Environment Program says plastic bags are a major cause of environmental pollution and human health problems. Birds, fish and other animals have been killed when they mistake plastic bags for food. At a Nairobi slaughterhouse, 20 plastic bags were once found in the bellies of cows.

Plastic bags also enter the human food chain through animals and affect human health. Especially in Africa, plastic garbage bags littering water can breed mosquitoes, leading to the spread of malaria, dengue fever and more. In addition, plastic bags can also pollute agricultural land.

There is a lot of opposition to the ban in Kenya and China. Samuel Madonda, a spokesman for the Federation of Kenya Manufacturers, said the ban would lead to the loss of 60,000 jobs and the closure of 176 manufacturers in Kenya, which is a leading plastic producer and exporter in East Africa. In response, Wakhungu said the production of bags with environmentally friendly materials would be able to create more jobs. According to The East African, small traders have begun selling paper or cloth shopping bags.

Greenpeace Africa believes that the ban is a beacon for creating an environmentally conscious society, and that Kenya has sent a clear signal to join the rest of Africa in taking an important step towards environmental protection and sustainable development. (Li Zhiwei)

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