May 16 â€" Plastic Bag Levy Still on the Table for Kenya
Environmental News group this week reported on Kenya’s latest efforts to deal with the plastic bag problem. The bags have been considered a problem for some time, causing sewer blockages and livestock deaths as litter. A levy on plastic bags remains in consideration if policy changes do not effect substantial changes.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Kenya Association of Manufactures (KAM) and other stakeholders have joined NEMA in launching the pilot waste management programme...
"The pilot project on Sustainable Management Plastic Waste in Nairobi will address the plastic menace in the capital city...
The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRI) has also called for a plastic bag levy, to be collected from either suppliers or directly from shoppers...
Past experience from Tanzania to Ireland suggests this would reduce the consumption and production of plastic bags considerably.
The full article, notes that Kenya has been evaluating solutions to the plastic bag problem for over a year.
Last year, the City of San Francisco considered placing a fee on the distribution of plastic bags to offset the costs of their clean-up as litter. The city instead approved a one-year trial period allowing supermarkets to reduce the bags by 10 million via other means.
CAW is sponsoring AB 2449 (Levine), which will require California grocery stores to take back and recycle plastic bags, as well as sell reusable bags.
What you can do: