NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 16 – The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Governing Council, Chair of Environment and Natural Resource Suresh Patel on Tuesday said a total ban on plastic bags was not the best way to deal with the pollutant.
Speaking at the launch of a National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Rapid Results Initiative on solid waste, Patel said the problem lay not in the manufacture of plastic bags but disposal and therefore not with the private sector but with the end user.
“We produce the goods, it’s the people who generate the waste. Plastic is not a problem. It’s a waste management issue. Believe me. There are recyclers there. They’re paying money for it. The plastic bag should have some economic value to it. If it becomes a raw material for another industry it’s an endless chain.”
He opposed the suggestion that Kenya go the Rwanda route by outlawing the use of plastic carrier bags. “Rwanda has no stakes, let me tell you, serious one in plastic industry. That’s why.”
“But any good initiative which helps reduce the waste should be supported including by private sector so if we can produce the paper at much economical cost and with minimum pollution load or environmental degradation, should be supported ,” he concluded.
