Skip to main content
NEU Senior Industrial Organiser
Kenya to charge plastic bag carriers £30,000
Kenyan authorities have taken the toughest action yet on plastic pollution — slapping a minimum fine of two million shillings (£15,000) for the “use, manufacture or import” of carrier bags.

The minimum fine can be replaced with a year behind bars, while maximum penalties are fines of four million shillings (about £30,000) or four years in jail.

The median annual wage in Kenya is just 80,000 shillings (around £600).

Nairobi has defended the harsh penalties by pointing to the way non-biodegradable bags are blocking sewers and choking waterways.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A construction worker at the launch of the first mass wet wipe removal from a UK river, organised by Thames Water to clear the 'Wet Wipe Island' on the River Thames near Hammersmith Bridge, west London, August 11, 2025
Pollution / 18 November 2025
18 November 2025
Erhai lake
Climate Crisis / 9 October 2025
9 October 2025

One of the major criticisms of China’s breakneck development in recent decades has been the impact on nature — returning after 15 years away, BEN CHACKO assessed whether the government’s recent turn to environmentalism has yielded results