NEMA now bans non-woven shopping bags.

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has now banned any non-woven polypropylene shopping bags  effective March 31.

This comes after the Agency found out that the non-woven polypropylene bags from Kenyan manufacturers apparently cannot be reused and are being disposed after single use.

“This single-usage of these bags will eventually lead to heavy environmental consequences due to poor disposal practices currently being experienced in the country and coupled with lack of requisite infrastructure to sustainably manage these bags.” NEMA Director-General, Geoffrey Wahungu says.

The move will have a negative impact on traders who hold huge stocks of the non-woven bags, as they may be forced to clear at lower prices before the ban sets in

“All the manufacturers, suppliers and users of these non woven polypropylene should stop manufacture, supply and use of these bags until the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBs) that will inform the quality of the non- woven bags needed in the Kenyan market,” NEMA directed

On February 28, 2017, plastic bags were banned to curb environmental pollution.