Hasten talks on plastic bags

With six tonnes of plastic bags produced in Tanzania annually – and another 170 tonnes imported – the plastics-related environmental threat is huge. Plastic bags are mostly used as carry bags– after which they are left to scatter every which way, on land and water bodies. Researchers warn that plastics are non-biodegradable and, as such, are a danger to the environment in general.

Also, more often than not, livestock and marine creatures choke on waste plastic bags which they take to be food – and the consequences can be tragic.

In 2015, Tanzania sought to completely ban domestic manufacture and importation of plastic bags in an effort to combat plastics-related pollution. However, that proposal met with stiff opposition mainly from manufacturers, citing possible loss of jobs and public revenues as some of the consequences.

In the event, the government sought to engage them in dialogue on how best to go about thrashing out the impasse.

Rwanda and Kenya next-door have virtually eliminated the use of plastic bags. We urge hastening the dialogue – but also ensuring that the outcome would be functional, without harming the environment or the economy in any way, shape or form.