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A ban on plastic bags will come into effect Saturday in Tanzania, while Africa is making efforts to stem the tide of plastic that is blighting the remotest parts of the globe and the depths of the ocean.
Tanzania prohibits the import, production, sale and use of plastic bags, becoming the 34th African country to apply such restrictions, according to the United Nations Environment Program ( UNEP).
"Let's be clear: as of June 1, the government is not planning any more days and we will not tolerate anyone who gets caught using them, no plastic bags will be allowed in the country," said the vice president. Tanzanian. President Samia Suluhu Hbadan said at the announcement of the move in April.
Tanzania – whose fauna is a popular tourist attraction – has also warned travelers that they will have to "return" plastic bags in their possession before entering the country.
"The government expects that, anxious to protect the environment and keep our country clean and beautiful, our visitors accept the minor inconveniences resulting from the ban on plastic bags," says the communicated.
According to local media, anyone caught manufacturing or importing plastic bags and packaging could be fined up to one billion Tanzanian shillings (430,000 and 390,000 euros) or a imprisonment for up to two years.
Possession and use may result in a fine of $ 87 or a term of imprisonment of seven days, or both.
Degrees of success
According to UNEP, 127 countries have legislation on plastic bags, of which 91 prohibit or prohibit the manufacture, import and retail distribution.
Africa has 34 of these countries, followed by Europe with 29.
Patrick Mwesigye, UNEP regional coordinator for resource efficiency, told AFP that the degree of success of the bans varied in Africa.
The ban on plastic bags in Rwanda has been in force for more than ten years and is considered one of the most successful.
"But Rwanda had the advantage of not making a lot of plastic," said Mwesigye.
Countries with manufacturing and importing industries, where jobs are subject to bans, have a harder time enforcing them.
"In Kenya … it has been very effective, you still have plastic smuggled from neighboring countries" like Uganda, he said.
The plastic ban imposed by Kenya in 2017 imposed particularly harsh laws, with fines of up to $ 38,000 (32,000 euros) and four years imprisonment.
However, in reality, despite the waves of arrests, fines and jail time were far less than proscribed.
Mr Mwesigye said some countries had put in place bans before making sure there were appropriate alternatives, while monitoring and practical implementation was also a challenge.
Scourge of plastics for single use
Joyce Msuya, UNEP's Acting Executive Director, congratulated Tanzania for adhering to countries implementing the ban.
"It is essential that bans are now complemented by efforts to identify effective alternatives to single-use plastics …".
Scientists have estimated that the world currently produces more than 300 million tons of plastics a year and that there are at least 5,000 billion plastic pieces floating in the oceans.
Most objects that pollute oceans and landscapes and cause appalling deaths to creatures that live there are designed to be used once and discarded, such as bags, straws and food packaging.
In March, countries did not agree on a timetable for the disposal of all single-use plastics, preferring instead to "significantly reduce" their production.
Neither the United States nor Canada nor Australia has national regulations on plastic bags, although some US states such as Hawaii or California have bans in place.
In March, the European Union voted to ban a dozen forms of plastics for single use from 2021.
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