Plastic bags choke Ugandan soils

Sep 07, 2009

ABOUT 3,000 tonnes of waste plastic (kaveera) find their way into Ugandan soils every year, an official from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has said.

By John Kasozi

ABOUT 3,000 tonnes of waste plastic (kaveera) find their way into Ugandan soils every year, an official from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has said.

Onesmus Muhwezi, the environment monitoring and compliance director, said the public uses 25,900 tonnes of plastic bags each month.

“About 900 tonnes (20%) of plastic bags are manufactured every month by 15 factories, while 25,000 tonnes (80%) are imported into the country every month,” he told journalists at his offices in Kampala on Friday.

During this year’s budget speech, finance minister Syda Bbumba banned the manufacture, importation, sale and use of plastic bags to protect the environment and human health.

Bbumba said imports packaged in polythene would not be allowed into the country from January next year.

Traders were given a six-month grace period and a hefty tax levy of 120% was imposed on other plastic containers in support of locally produced biodegradable bags.

“A ban on kaveera of 30-micron and below was agreed upon by five East Africa Community member states in the 2007/2008 budget. Unfortunately, Kenya did not implement it,” Muhwezi recalled.

He noted that the failure by Kenya led to the increased smuggling of banned polythene bags in the region.

The ban by Uganda followed a similar one in Zanzibar in 2007 and Rwanda in 2008. In 2006, Tanzanian vice-president Ali Mohamed Shein declared a total ban on plastic bags.

Last year, Kenyan MPs passed a motion allowing the introduction of a Bill seeking to regulate the production and use of plastics in the country.

Plastic bags are non-biodegradable. They take between 15 and 1,000 years to breakdown in the environment.
“Research shows that 60% of stray cattle die due to consumption of polythene bags though the greater risk is to the soils and crops,” Muhwezi explained.

He added that plastic bags are also poisonous when they are burnt below 800 degrees celsius.

“They release toxic gases like dioxins and furans, which have lethal effects on human health and the environment.”

The Ministry of Finance, Uganda Manufacturers Association and the Uganda Investment Authority are working out incentives to encourage the production of bio-degradable packaging materials.

The Government also plans to regulate importers of commodities such as clothes, that are packed in polythene bags.

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