Environmental campaigners call for harsher anti-plastic laws

Nine years after Kenya introduced one of the world’s toughest bans on single-use plastic carrier bags, environmental campaigners are pushing the government to confront a broader problem of the growing tide of other single-use packaging that the 2017 ban never addressed.

Greenpeace Africa, the Centre for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD), WWF Kenya and the Kenya National Waste Pickers Association have handed the government policy recommendations aimed at shifting Kenya’s plastic waste strategy from managing waste after it is created to preventing it at source.

The recommendations were presented in Nairobi as Kenya marked the anniversary of the landmark plastic bag ban, which campaigners say remains a major environmental policy success but is no longer enough to tackle the country’s wider packaging problem.

The 2017 ban reduced the use of single-use plastic carrier bags, with campaigners citing an 80 per cent decline in their use in the early years. It also positioned Kenya as a regional leader in plastic pollution control.

But nine years later, campaigners say illegal imports, porous borders and unregulated suppliers continue to introduce banned or non-compliant plastic products into local markets, including thin and non-woven bags.

At the same time, other forms of single-use packaging from beverage bottles and detergent sachets to personal care containers, plastic wraps and disposable diapers, have continued to enter the waste stream.

Hellen Kahaso Dena, Plastics Project Lead at Greenpeace Africa, said Kenya’s challenge is not a lack of environmental laws, but the emphasis of those laws.

“The biggest challenge has been that most of these regulations are really looking at downstream measures, looking at waste management measures, rather than how to stop the problem, or how to prevent the problem from the source,” she said.

The coalition argued that Kenya’s Sustainable Waste Management Act of 2022 and the 2024 Extended Producer Responsibility regulations recognise reuse, but do not establish sufficiently binding obligations for manufacturers to shift away from single-use packaging.

The proposed reforms therefore seek to establish a National Refill and Reuse Framework under the 2022 Act, setting standards for reusable packaging, hygiene, labelling, safety and traceability.

Campaigners also want amendments to the 2024 4 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations to introduce mandatory refill and reuse targets by product category, require producers to report their performance and infrastructure investments, and impose significant penalties for non-compliance.

They are calling for deposit-return systems for products such as beverages, detergents and cooking oil, allowing consumers to return containers for reuse rather than dispose of them after a single use.

The proposals also seek to strengthen coordination between the national and county governments, with counties being urged to establish local laws and refill stations suited to their communities.

Campaigners are also calling for tax incentives and funding to make refill systems affordable, while encouraging public institutions to adopt reusable packaging where possible.

The proposed system would initially target products such as beverages, cleaning products, personal care items, dry foods, cooking oil and some sachets, while sanitary products such as diapers would require further consideration due to health and hygiene concerns.

Mbitu Njoroge, Deputy Director of Waste Management and Pollution Control at the State Department for Environment, welcomed the recommendations and said the government is already working on national refill and reuse guidelines for plastic packaging through NEMA.

Njoroge said genuine reuse should not be confused with simply finding another use for a discarded container.

A reusable package, he explained, must be intentionally designed for repeated use of the same purpose and supported by reverse logistics to return containers to producers.

He cited refillable gas cylinders as an example of a system already familiar to Kenyans and questioned whether a similar model could be expanded to plastic packaging.

The government is also developing a national circular economy strategy and implementation plan, which Njoroge said is expected to be completed by November this year.

But the proposed transition faces significant challenges. A functioning refill economy would require collection networks, cleaning and sterilisation facilities, tracking systems, consumer participation and clear safety standards.

There is also concern that refill systems could become concentrated in wealthier urban areas unless they are deliberately designed to include low income households, small businesses and informal waste workers.

Joyce Wangari of the Kenya National Waste Pickers Association called for waste pickers to be formally integrated and compensated within Producer Responsibility Organisation systems, noting that frontline communities already bear much of the burden of plastic pollution.

Nine years after the plastic bag ban, Kenya has demonstrated that strong regulation can change consumer behaviour and reduce a major source of pollution. But the persistence of other single use packaging shows that banning one product cannot, by itself deliver a circular economy.