Editorials

Let the plastics go, finally

plastic

The non-biodegradable garbage threatens marine life and has become eyesores in all towns. file photo | nmg

After several years of back and forth, August, the month of total ban on plastic is finally here. According to National Environment Management Authority (Nema) regulations, plastic bags stand banned from August 28. That is what every environment-conscious Kenyan expects. The government should deal with the plastic issue once and for all. 

Otherwise, the path to a total ban has been long and dicey. The plastic producers and importers have consistently worked to throw the spanner in the works.

When they are not in courts trying to stop implementation of Nema regulations, they are out there dangling 420,000 jobs and tax collections running into millions of shillings that the economy stands to lose by getting rid of plastics.

The latest attempt, in which they have petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta to veto the rules falls perfectly within the whole scheme.

What has been missing in their pleas has been the environmental cost of plastics.

The non-biodegradable garbage threatens marine life and has become eyesores in all towns. If manufacturers had a sustainable way of using plastic, that should have come eons ago.