EDITORIAL: Packaging industry will help end proliferation of polythene bags

It is six years since non-biodegradable polythene bags were banned from the country. Major supermarkets improvised and have since moved on as they are able to produce degradable packaging material. However, the small scale vendors and retailers were hit hardest, not least because of an inexplicable delay by investors to capitalise on the ban and produce the packaging material given the ready market in the country. Only a handful of firms, mainly the cottage industry, are making paper bags. The burden of this lack of alternative is heavily borne by traders, some of whom are forced to wrap oily foods in often dirty papers. The same lack of alternatives has also provided a fertile ground for the proliferation of illicit plastic bags as unscrupulous individuals continue to smuggle them into the country. But warnings that adverse effect on environment and public health due to indiscriminate use of polythene is colossal cannot be taken for granted. Polythene is not biodegradable, and if dumped in the soil, causes harm to the plant life, as the toxic substances of polythene get blocked among the soil particles. Polythene is also likely to clog drainage system, causing flooding. In most households, plastic bags are used to preserve food items, but these bags contain lead and cadmium, which are toxic and cause adverse effects to human health. If polythene is burnt in open air, hydrogen cyanide, which is carcinogenic (cancer causing) is released. These dangers are not scare-crows. That is why the latest development that the Ministry of Trade and Industry, that of Natural Resources, Rwanda Standards Bureau, and Rema can successfully woo investors to set up factories that make eco-friendly, decent and affordable packaging materials is a big breeze of hope. Six years has been too long a puzzle. If the concerned authorities can fix the jigsaw now, it would go a long way in easing packaging woes as well as limiting health hazards in our environment.

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EDITORIAL: Packaging industry will help end proliferation of polythene bags