Plastic Bag Ban In Kenya

Sealord

Just saw this on my new docs. “Plastic Bag Ban in Kenya”. ... A fine of up to $38,000 or four years in prison for simply possessing a plastic bag. That would bring tears to your eyes. We better be searching our luggage before crossing into Kenya. Those flying via Nairobi will have to be very careful.

AlanS

Sealord wrote:

Just saw this on my new docs. “Plastic Bag Ban in Kenya”. ... A fine of up to $38,000 or four years in prison for simply possessing a plastic bag. That would bring tears to your eyes. We better be searching our luggage before crossing into Kenya. Those flying via Nairobi will have to be very careful.

Yup, it is true according to the BBC, Reuters, et al! "Travellers coming into Kenya with duty-free plastic shop bags will be required to leave them at the airport under the new rules, Nema has said." I don't know if his will affect the small ziplock plastic bags the airlines (and TSA?) require for carrying permitted small bottles of liquids in your carry-on. Most travel products manufacturers have dopp bags with one or more plastic-lined compartments.

Kenya which had been trying to pass a law for 10 years, is not the first African country to do so, though they may have the harshest penalties. One would hope the penalties in Sealord's post (which are for real), are maximums for severe violations. Initially they are targeting manufacturers, importers and sellers of plastic bags. You kill the sources and the problem is easier to manage. However, as one Nairobi official pointed out, banning plastic bags and trash can liners will make trash collection a real problem and create a real mess.

I think this is the wave of the future. Supposedly there are huge "floating islands" of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. Someone needs to invent a "plastic" bag that biodegrades completely after 30 days of exposure to water or moisture.

Ken from Vegas

I have friends that just returned from the K & T trip (they loved it). They said that the ban applies to the thin plastic bags you get from grocery stores, not to ziplock bags. I would confirm this before going, but that is what they were told.