Should supermarkets offer free shopping bags?
The plastic bag ban in Kenya was one of the highlights of the year 2017. But with stores no longer providing free shopping bags, many are feeling the pinch of the added cost.
About four months after what has been termed as the world’s toughest plastic bag ban, the Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) came out to urge supermarkets to provide free carrier bags to shoppers.
“Consumers feel inconvenienced with the current system where customers are required to pay for the carrier bags at the end of billing,” a December 22nd statement on the COFEK website read, “with many having exhausted their budgets, they either have to be packed in unhealthy cartons or one paid-for carrier bag which will see food items, detergents and even chemicals mixed up. Such items need to be packaged separately to avoid contamination. On the other hand cartons are too cumbersome to carry for shoppers without vehicles.”
The Plastic Bag Initiative was launched as part of Kenya’s 2030 vision towards a clean, secure and sustainable environment. After years of delay, a ban on production, selling, purchase and usage of the bags came into effect in August of 2017, receiving global accolades. Penalties of using plastic bags are 1-2 years in prison or a Kshs.2-4million fine.
With an estimated 100 million plastic bags handed out by supermarkets every year, there was increasing reason for going green in Kenya. Litter from plastics is not only a sore sight but also a health hazard; blocking sewers and contaminating soil and water sources. There have been reports in Kenya of animals at the slaughterhouse spotting plastic bags in their stomachs. Fishers have also reported catching plastics in their hooks and nets. The leak into soil, water and animals means that plastic components can easily leak into the human food chain.
But even as Kenya proudly joined 40 other countries in the noble endeavor to eliminate the plastic bag menace, the implementation of the plastic bag ban has not been without problems. In the beginning, manufactures decried the likelihood of the loss of about 60,000 jobs and closure of close to 180 factories.
On the other hand, retailers and consumers have felt the hit on their pocket, with the alternative carrier bags being considerably more costly than the plastic bags. Despite a prior six month notice, the market was still caught unprepared to implement the change; the past months have been a time to hurriedly adjust decades of Kenyans’ shopping behavior.
Environment Cabinet Secretary, Judi Wakhungu, who gazzeted the ban, admitted that she had probably ruffled some feathers but was assured that 95 percent of Kenyans were in support of the move. “(Kenyans) know that they have to change their behavior,” she said, “…I have reservations about how some of the stories have played out in the media…that 60,000 jobs will be lost is a gross exaggeration. These factories are producing so many other materials, a minor factor of which is the plastic carrier bags. For them to say 60,000 jobs will be lost is erroneous.”
She added that the second phase of the ban will target primary packaging and plastic bottles. As for market preparedness she said, “What is a reasonable and appropriate time when a discussion has been going on for 15 years or more?”
One bio-degradable shopping bag is costing the consumer anywhere from Kshs.15 to 100. To beat the cost of having to buy one every time you go shopping, it has taken shoppers some time to remember to take one with them to the store. But one doesn’t always remember, and as many, especially men who don’t carry handbags, have complained, sometimes the decision to pop in to the store after work for some supplies is unplanned. “Most times I remember about a bag when I am at the till,” says Eric Mbugua, a 28 year old single man, “it’s annoying especially when you have an exact amount to get your stuff, then you have to add 50 bob for a bag. There is a day I left the shopping at the till because if I had paid for the bag, I wouldn’t have had enough bus fare.” COFEK insists that the extra 10-100 shillings for a bag is prohibitive and out of reach to most Kenyans, a country where, according to UNICEF, 42 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
The recommendation was for retailers to factor the cost of the carrier bags in the overall costing, and in so doing, provide them for free. But retailers have heard none of it, insisting that the bags are too expensive and that offering them for free will have a gross effect on their profit and loss account.
The alternative would be for the government to zero-rate the bio-degradable bags. When an item is zero-rated, the government doesn’t tax its retail sale, reducing the price of the good. Governments zero-rate essential goods such as food and utilities to lower the tax burden on low-income households. Zero-rated goods are also designated as such because they are contributors to other manufactured goods and thus a leading part of the broader supply chain. At this rate, shopping bags are not only ‘essential’ goods to the Kenyan consumer, but also a big part of moving other products along the supply chain.
The move to ban plastic bags is a plus for the environment. But where the consumer is concerned, perhaps the next move is to lobby for the zero-rating on the alternative bags. This way Kenyans can not only receive them as added value to their consumer experience, but also not have to grapple with detergents seeping into their flour in one crammed and otherwise expensive shopping bag.
Rachel is a prolific Kenyan writer, with over 15 years’ experience in the print media industry and has been part of editorial teams in major publications. Her specialties are health, community development, children and women’s affairs, global current affairs and lifestyle. She currently runs a content and creative consultancy outfit and holds an almost full-time gig at Kenya’s leading Newspaper, The Nation. When she is not creating content for her clients and has finally caught up with newspaper deadlines, she can be found at home reading or trying to (finally) work on her ‘Great African Novel’.