Lawmakers propose controversial new ban on familiar household items: 'Creating a .... transition that uplifts communities'
East African lawmakers are considering legislation that could drastically reduce the amount of plastic used in the region.
Leaders from the East African Legislative Assembly met last month with journalists to discuss the Single-Use Plastic Bill. As Kenya's Capital News reports, the bill would prohibit the manufacture, import, sale, and use of certain types of single-use plastics across the region.
The EALA includes lawmakers from Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The bill includes plastic cutlery, plates, cups, straws, balloons, food containers, and microplastics used in cosmetics. Some countries had already banned certain single-use items — Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania all have plastic-bag bans — but this is the broadest proposal in the region.
"This bill is about more than banning plastic — it's about creating a just and inclusive transition that uplifts communities and builds sustainable alternatives," Carlotta Dal Lago of the Africa Legal Network said at the April meeting, as reported by Kass International.
EALA lawmakers hope this single-use ban can be enacted before negotiations continue on the United Nations' proposed global plastics treaty. In 2022, 175 countries vowed to sign a plastics treaty, which would phase out many polluting plastics, including single-use ones, while also setting firmer requirements for plastic packaging.
The UN announced in March that more negotiations will occur for the treaty from Aug. 5-14.
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest global environmental threats. Each year, more than 20 million tons of plastic enter waterways across the world — the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks' worth each day.
The African continent is "one of the worst performers when it comes to managing solid waste," according to UN Trade and Development data, so the EALA plastic bill is a crucial step in the right direction. Only 10% of the country's plastic waste is properly managed, and without change, the amount of annual plastic waste could more than triple by 2060.
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