Garbage bags ban: Nema asked to review compliance period

Private garbage collectors have appealed to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) to review the compliance period set in the biodegradable bags transition process. 

In a legal notice published on April 8, 2024, Nema directed that within 90 days all organic waste generated by households, religious institutions, private and public sector, private and public events, shall be segregated and placed in 100 per cent biodegradable garbage bags.

The three-month period indicated in the notice lapses on July 8, 2024 and according to Nema, the use of conventional plastic bags, popularly known as black bin bags, for the collection of organic waste shall thus cease forthwith.

However, stakeholders under the umbrella of Waste and Environment Management Association (Wemak), have accused Nema of ignoring critical issues which they raised in public participation forums. 

They claim that key concerns regarding waste segregation, material recovery facilities (MRFs), take back systems, and extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs remain unresolved. 

These issues, they maintain, threaten the effectiveness and fairness of the transition.

Testing and certification

“The hasty implementation of the biodegradable bag directive without addressing these foundational elements undermines the spirit of multi-sectoral collaboration and public participation enshrined in the Constitution and in section 23 of the Sustainable Waste Management Act,” said Wemak Chairperson Samuel Onyancha.

Further, the association said the 2017 Gazette Notice 2356 exempted garbage liners, provided that the waste service providers adhered to strict take-back and EPR requirements.

In its own assessment, Wemak believes that it is largely in compliance with the requirements and further considers the new directive as being in contradiction with the previous exemption.

“We are concerned about the authority and why it wants to fix what’s not broken. Nema has not provided clear guidance on the availability, cost and sourcing of certified biodegradable bags, raising concerns about potential monopolies and unfair competition,” said Lucy Mwangi, an official of Wemak.

She added that the 90-day compliance period is unreasonable, given the lack of testing and certification of alternative bags and the absence of designated MRFs. This rushed timeline violates the right to a fair administrative action as provided under article 47.

Waste management challenges

One of the requirements provided in the Nema notice is that all county governments and licensed private service providers should provide their clients with 100 per cent biodegrade garbage bags.

Wemak argues that the proposed biodegradable bag would take at least six months to biodegrade and thus lead to landfills considering that in Nairobi alone, there are about 100 private companies in garbage collection with each collecting an estimated 15 tons of waste in a day.

In the current arrangement, where plastic waste collection bags are used, waste managers employ people who sort out the garbage while ensuring all the plastic bags are taken back for recycling.

Wemak notes that the rushed transition to biodegradable bags could raise significant economic challenges, as the cost of a bag could increase from Sh15 to Sh83. This will likely be passed on to the consumer.

Higher waste management costs may also incentivize illegal dumping, exacerbating already existing waste management challenges in the absence of adequate infrastructure and clear policies.

“The ban on non-biodegradable bags threaten significant job losses within the waste management sector, particularly among waste pickers and recyclers recovering recyclable waste from the general environment and landfills,” Onyancha said.