Using a plastic bag can now possibly get you jail time in Kenya


After multiple attempts to implement a ban on plastic bags in Kenya, on Monday it finally became illegal in the country to use plastic bags to carry groceries and throw out trash. The penalties are steep — violators could be fined up to $38,000 or sentenced to up to four years in jail.
"It is a toxin that we must get rid of," Judi Wakhungu, Cabinet secretary for the environment, told reporters. "It's affecting our water. It's affecting our livestock and, even worse, we are ingesting this as human beings." Despite the hefty fines, the government does not plan on going out of its way to arrest Kenyans, she said, adding, "I know they will comply."
Plastic bags are spotted everywhere in Kenya, collecting in trees and along the side of roads, and it's not going to be easy to totally eliminate them from the country — there are nearly 176 plastic bag manufacturers in Kenya, the Kenyan Association of Manufacturers says, employing tens of thousands of people. The organization is challenging the ban in court.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a country where many people live on less than $2 a day, the ban could make a tough economic situation even worse. In June, NPR spoke with a man who sold charcoal, and he said he'll lose his customers if they can't have a cheap way to carry it home. He also said he keeps a man in business who finds plastic bags, cleans them, then sells them to merchants. Parliament member Kenneth Okoth, who represents the Kibera slum in Nairobi, told NPR he wants to save the environment, but his constituents are too poor to do without the bags. "It may look very fashionable in international circles," he said. "But in reality, in a place like Kibera, we still need those plastics."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
5 darkly funny cartoons about Israel blocking aid to Gaza
Cartoons Artists take on forcing famine, avoiding aid, and more
-
The easy elegance of Cap Ferret
The Week Recommends 'Elemental and otherworldly' destination is loved for its natural beauty
-
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: flirting with authoritarianism?
Talking Point Ukraine's president is facing first major domestic unrest since the Russian invasion, over plans to water down the country's anti-corruption agencies
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement