Importing, selling or using plastic bags has been outlawed in Tanzania in a move aimed at curbing environmental damage.Manufacturers and retailers had been given up to six months to phase out polythene, which is said to take up to 1,000 years to degrade, and switch to recyclable materials or biodegradable alternatives.
Zanzibar banned use of plastic bags under 100 microns in 2005 and offenders are fined up to US 2,000 dollars or six months in prison or both. In 2012 the East African Community (EAC) passed the Polythene Material Control Bill of 2011 to regulate plastic bags under 100 microns. Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda have also banned use of plastic bags, with Uganda going further to ban any product made of very thin plastic below 100 microns.
The proliferation of plastic bags and plastic containers across the country and other EAC states has become an eyesore and and a catastrophe to the environment.
