Lack of coordinated multi-agency approach hampering plastic ban enforcement - Nema

The National Environment and Management Authority now says lack of a coordinated multi-agency enforcement network approach remains the biggest challenge to the enforcement of the plastic ban.

Director-General Mamo B. Mamo in an interview with the Star said the establishment of agencies like a police department dedicated for the general enforcement of the ban would have gone a long way in complementing Nema's efforts.

He said for the control of imported goods and smuggled plastic bags, there needs to be an agency at the border posts and other points of entry for verification of incoming products.

Mamo said county governments who operate and regulate market centres and license small business enterprises who are the main targets of the smugglers of banned plastic bags have also lagged behind in the implementation of the ban.

He said their inspectors can help in identifying and arresting users of the banned plastic bags.

“The county governments must also provide the requisite infrastructure for waste management, including facilitation for material recovery and recycling,” he said.

The DG said the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) should decline requests for packaging of certain categories of goods in plastic bags whenever there are feasible and environmentally friendlier non-plastic packaging options and also develop standards for alternative packaging materials.

Mamo said there is also a lack of coordination from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers who should be mobilising their members to form EPROs for purposes of curbing the plastic pollution menace.

“We lack a media network to provide information on the ban to the public, report on suspected cases of violation of the ban and successes made so far. The general public should be aware of the banned plastic bags, and also report cases of violation,” he said.

He said the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission should step up investigations and prefer corruption charges on reported corruption rings and cartels involved in illegal plastic bags trade in the country.

Mamo said though the multi-agency teams are working well with Nema, he insisted the judicial system should be setting examples through deterrent and prohibitive sentences to convicted offenders.

PROGRESS

The DG said Nema has made impressive progress so far and has received over 30 delegations from different countries that came to benchmark with them in the last three years.

He said the ban on plastic bags as contained in Gazette Notice No. 2334 of 14th March 2017 was not just on single-use plastics.

“The Gazette notice no. 2334 banned the manufacture, importation and use of carrier bags and flat bags used for commercial and household packaging,” he said.

Mamo said there are ongoing robust enforcement inspections throughout the country by Nema inspectors in collaboration with the police and lead agencies.

He said there are initiatives to ensure that the plastic waste in the environment and newly generated ones are mopped up and recycled.

So far a number of take-back mechanisms and extended producer responsibility schemes are being formulated in liaison with key industry players such as the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. 

“The Authority has made numerous arrests ranging from Manufacturers, Users and even smugglers of the banned plastics. The number of arrests from each county exceeds over 100 people this year,” he said.

He said some of the high profile arrests have been captured in the media especially around Syokimau areas in Machakos County.

Some offenders have been fined, while some cases are still ongoing.

He said there are however companies cleared to manufacture plastic packaging, but strictly for primary industrial packaging (of cleared products) like medical and food packaging companies.

ILLEGAL DUMPING

Mamo said illegal dumping of waste is especially common in slum areas is a delicate challenge as most of the dumping in the prohibited plastic bags is done at night.

He said the authority in partnership with the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) is working to clear the illegal dumpsites, make the areas accessible, and educate the populace on the take-back mechanisms that will ensure the plastic bags are recovered for recycling.

“Night surveillance inspections will be enhanced once the existing curfew restrictions are lifted,” he said.

Some quarters including the Kenya Association of Manufacturers –KAM had protested against the alternatives given on grounds that they were also found to be environmentally damaging.

But Mamo said the main concerns raised were with regard to the influx of the non-woven carrier bags as alternatives to the plastic carrier bags.

He said the introduction of the non-woven carrier bags was done without the guiding standards from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).

“The lack of standards led to the proliferation of sub-standard bags that were adding to the plastic waste menace in the country. It is for this reason that NEMA banned the production and importation of the non-woven bags,” he said.

He said the  Kenya Bureau of Standards (through the Kenya National Workshop Agreement) is developing standards for the non-woven bags that will ensure they are of the right quality in terms of Tear resistance/ tensile strength, density, porosity (air permeability), water resistance, colour fastness (dye/pigment migration), food and drug safety, absorptiveness (to dust, microorganisms) and migration of plasticizers.

The standards will ensure that the non-woven bags overcome the challenges which led to Nema imposing a manufacturing/ importation ban on the same over quality concerns and will be a befitting alternative to the plastic carrier bags.

The Kenya Manufacturers Association CEO Phyllis Wakiaga said imports of alternative packaging increased to meet the increasing demand for alternative carrier bags.

Wakiaga said the absence of standards in the country for non-woven bags resulted in the importation and production of any gauge of the bags prompting NEMA to impose another ban.

“The notice by NEMA to stop further manufacture, importation, supply, distribution and use of non-woven polypropylene bags highlighted the need for standards to govern the quality of polypropylene bags in Kenya. Manufacturers engaged NEMA and other stakeholders in a bid to develop standards to regulate the industries,” she said.

She said the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) developed the Kenyan standards to ensure that imports and locally manufactured non-woven bags meet the required standards.

“All manufacturers have to adhere to them and are monitored by KEBS and NEMA,” she said.

Wakiaga said Due to the limited supply of local raw materials and inputs for the production of alternative packagings, such as paper and cotton, the cost of production is inevitably higher.

Wakiaga said industries under KAM have come together and are in the process of establishing a Plastic Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) that will support to coordinate sustainable plastic practices.

“We recently launched the PRO’s Business Strategic Plan shall support the Organization we are currently establishing to implement our extended responsibility. The Plan sets out the direction of our priorities in the current waste value chain environment to ensure that plastic waste disposed of by consumers does not end up in the environment,” she said.

Mamo said overall, the country is on the right track in implementing the ban.

He said the success of the ban is on an upward trajectory at compliance levels of 96 per cent success.

“With the implementation of the Plastic Control Regulations 2019 together with the Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations, the Country will see a clean and healthy environment devoid of plastic waste,” Mamo said.

He added, “We have also in the same spirit, prohibited the importation of plastic waste into Kenya for recycling purposes until we’ll be satisfied that our environment is plastic-free”.

EFFECTS OF THE BAN

 Following the plastic bags ban, a substantial number of people lost their jobs as some of the plastic bags manufacturers closed their business while some relocated to neighbouring countries.

Kenya Association of Manufacturers CEO Phillis Wakiaga told the Star few remaining plastic bags manufacturing companies diversified their operations to produce fabric-based bags, non-woven bags, pulp paper-based bags amongst others.

She however said the capacity for production remains low due to the limited supply of raw materials domestically.

She said apart from the loss of employment, the plastic bags ban has had various effects on local industries specializing in plastic bags including loss of investment and markets.

According to her, the ban brought about policy uncertainty surrounding plastics investment in the country.

This resulted in the loss of the much needed backwards and forward linkages in the manufacturing sector, critical in job creation.

“The unpredictable policy environment challenge should be addressed in future policy developments,” she said.

While refuting claims that some companies are still illegally producing the plastic carrier bags, Wakiaga said since the government of Kenya banned the manufacture, import and use of plastic bags (carrier bags and flat bags) in 2017, production of plastic bags by local manufacturers in Kenya were stopped and Nema has been ensuring compliance.

“There is a high probability that these plastic bags are smuggled into the country through our porous borders, from countries where single-use plastic carrier bags have not been banned. Additionally, this was a country-specific policy decision on plastic bags that was not adopted at the regional level,” she said.

She said working in partnership with the government, local industries are working to establish long-lasting solutions towards the protection and nurturing of the environment to secure the future of the country as part of their extended producer responsibilities.