Kenya banned the manufacture, import, sale and use of plastic carrier and flat bags by Gazette Notice No. 2356 of 28 February 2017 under the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act, with effect from 28 August 2017, six months after the notice. Penalties run to four years in prison or fines of up to 4 million Kenyan shillings. A further ban on single-use plastics in protected areas including national parks, beaches and forests took effect on 5 June 2020, following a presidential directive on World Environment Day 2019.
The ban is widely credited with a visible drop in bag litter in cities, though smuggling from neighbouring countries and enforcement remain challenges; National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) relaunched a crackdown in September 2025. UN Environment Programme (UNEP)'s Law and Environment Assistance Platform holds the notice.
Status as at September 2026: in force. Dates verified against NEMA's plastic carrier bag ban page and UNEP's report on the 2020 protected-areas ban on 23 September 2026.