• National Sustainable Waste Management Bill, 2018 seeks to cut down waste by 95 per cent. Cabinet approves, bill awaits National Assembly approval.
• According to the bill, those found polluting the environment will be ordered to pay a fine of as much as Sh4 million or spend a maximum of four years in jail.
The Cabinet has approved a new policy to transform solid waste is handled, to recycle, produce manure and reduce waste by 95 per cent.
The National Sustainable Waste Management Bill, 2018, is awaiting approval by the National Assembly.
Environment PS Chris Kiptoo said on Tuesday the policy will be a game-changer in the way solid waste will be handled.
“The policy is looking at the circular model as opposed to the linear one where we get all the waste to our dumpsites,” Kiptoo said.
He made the remarks during a webinar meeting ahead of this year’s World Environment Day on Friday.
The day will be commemorated in Turkana county.
Kiptoo said organic waste will be used to generate manure while others will be recycled.
According to the bill, those found polluting the environment will be ordered to pay a fine of as much as Sh4 million or spend as long as four years in jail.
In the circular model, waste will be segregated at the source before service providers move it to material recovery facilities where sorting, selling and treatment are done.
Five per cent of the waste will be incinerated, 30 per cent recycled and 60 per cent turned into manure. Only five per cent will go to landfills.
The government says the policy will create jobs along the waste management chain. Currently waste goes diretly to dumpsites across the country.
To further cut the waste, the government will develop regulations on the use of eco-friendly raw materials and cleaner production technologies.
Regulations and standards for central collection systems, storage and reuse will also be developed.
All laws and regulations will be reviewed for waste to be reclassified as unsegregated and recyclable.
The PS said the government was progressively moving towards cutting plastic use.
Kiptoo, however, said the transition has to be done in a manner that does not hurt investors and the public.
The government banned the use of single-use plastics in 2017.
Those found with plastics in Kenya are fined between Sh2 million and Sh4 million or ordered to serve a jail term of one to two years - or both.
Karura Forest was, after the ban, declared plastics-free.
This would then be followed by the ban on plastic bottles in all the protected areas, set to take effect on World Environment Day.
The PS said the National Environment Management Authority will work closely with the Kenya Forest Service to find ways of managing plastics used to plant trees.
Kenya seeks to plant 1.8 billion trees between now and 2022 to increase tree cover from the current 7.2 per cent to 10 per cent.
Kiptoo said there is a mechanism to collect all the plastics used after tree planting. seedlings are grown in plastic bags, not all biodegradable.
Edited by R.Wamochie