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Plastic Bag Bans in Africa

By Aude Jouanguy

Plastic bags are popular among retailers and consumers because they are cheap, lightweight, and strong. Because of their convenience, they have become a ubiquitous component of our modern environment, both as tools and as waste. The overuse of plastic bags has become a major source of pollution to the environment, contaminating water and soil, threatening terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

In recent years, plastic bags bans have been enacted across the United States and Europe, including Thurston County. Several African nations are also taking the initiative to institute bans. Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), a nation on the West coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, announced in May 2013 that it will soon be joining the ban.

Côte d'Ivoire has had a major problem managing its trash which includes a significant amount of plastic bags. They can be found almost anywhere: in the trees, oceans, canals, and streets. Not only do they contaminate Côte d'Ivoire's soil and water, they also clog city drainage systems, which lead to flooding during the rainy season.

Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d'Ivoire, signed an ordinance prohibiting the production, importation, and commercialization of certain types of plastic bags. The ban was originally due to take effect in November 2013, but has been postponed until May 2014 in response to the pressure from opposing parties.

Authorized plastic are to be degradable or oxo-biodegradable. Labeling will also be mandatory and should specify the identity of the manufacturer by mentioning technical specifications (i.e. material, thickness, strength by weight), including its lifetime expectancy, and biodegradability. Military, agriculture, and medical industries will still be authorized to use single-use plastic bags by requesting an authorization from the Minister of the Environment and are required to follow the guidelines issued.

Both enterprise managers and workers in the plastic industry feel their jobs are threatened by this ban. According to an online article published online in September 2013 by the newspaper Libertalia, the Ivoirian government has promised to save 100,000 jobs threatened by the ban, which means millions of plastic bags will continue to plague Côte d'Ivoire's environment despite the issued ban.

Groupe Prosuma, an Ivoirian company promoting supermarkets and specializing in retail and distribution, has been ready to make the switch. The company will also be part of a six month awareness campaign. According to Caroline Daymon, a project manager at Prosuma, Prosuma distributed a total of 13,000,000 plastic bags to its customers in 2013. By December, Prosuma had already liquidated its stock of plastic bags and introduced biodegradable bags at local markets, which are available to customers for 750 CFA ($1.55). Daymon said the price of a biodegradable bag will be costly for the Ivoirian population, but will help them realize how bad plastic is for the environment.

Schools, radio stations, and television will play a major role in communicating and promoting the ban in order to raise awareness among the Ivorian population. Schools will integrate the issue of plastic bags into the curriculum so students can become informed at an early age and share their knowledge with the elders. Despite Côte d'Ivoire passing an ordinance, the law may not be as effective as intended because plastic bags will still be produced in order to save jobs. When looking at a country like Rwanda, which in 2004 fully enforced a ban of plastic bags, it seems that an environment free from plastic bags is not far out of reach for Côte d'Ivoire, if the country can adhere to the ban.

Thurston County Commissioner Karen Valenzuela visited Rwanda in the summer of 2013 and observed how surprisingly clean the environment was. "Even before landing in Rwanda a French flying attendant announced to the passengers that plastic bags were not allowed in Rwanda and that authorities will take them away and replace them with biodegradable bags," said Valenzuela.

Long before Rwanda adopted the ban, plastic bags were referred to as "urban tumble weeds," because they are lightweight they can be transported anywhere with the wind. For most countries in Africa, Rwanda remains a source of inspiration yet to be realized in Côte d'Ivoire.

Aude Jouanguy is a French international student and SPEECH intern. In December, Aude visited her parents in Côte d'Ivoire, where she was raised.


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Updated 2015/01/07 21:14:22