No More Plastic Cups and Straws in Kenya’s Parks and Beaches

(Bloomberg) --

Single-use plastics are now banned from Kenya's beaches, national parks, forests and conservation areas as part of efforts to curb pollution.

Tourists visiting these sites, as well as hotels and lodges located in these areas, will from Friday no longer be allowed to use items such as bottles, straws, cutlery, plates, cups and cotton buds made of plastic, and will have to seek substitutes, according to Najib Balala, cabinet secretary for tourism and wildlife.

The government said the ban offers an opportunity to use alternatives such as wooden, metallic or paper products and local materials including coconut husks and bamboo. East Africa's biggest economy banned the use of plastic bags in August 2017, and “has since attained over 80% success in ban enforcement,” according to the environment ministry.

PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles are the most common single-use plastic items that litter Kenya's parks and beaches, Balala said. Other items now banned in Kenya's protected areas include cigarettes with plastic butts, crisp packets, sweet wrappers and single-use toiletries packaged in the prohibited material, such as soap, lotions and shampoos.

While tourism is one of Kenya's top foreign-exchange earners, raking in 163.5 billion shillings ($1.54 billion) in 2019, with international arrivals at 2.05 million visitors, most hospitality facilities remain closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

About 50% of global plastic waste is made up of packaging designed to be used only once, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

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