> Law No. 17\/2019 Relating to the Prohibition of Manufacturing, Importation, Use and Sale of Plastic Carry Bags and Single-Use Plastic Items<\/b><\/p>\n
Rwanda\u2019s Law No. 17\/2019 was adopted 10 August 2019 and came into force upon publishing on 23 September 2019.\u00a0 Repeals Law No. 57\/2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe manufacturing, importation or sale of plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items is prohibited.\u201d Art. 3.\u00a0 A person who intends to manufacture, import, export, or use prohibited items for an \u201cexceptional reason\u201d may apply for authorization in writing. Art. 4.<\/p>\n
Plastic is defined as \u201ca material derived from petrochemicals that are lightweight, soft and non-compostable.\u201d Art. 2(6).<\/p>\n
Single-use plastic item is defined as \u201ca disposable plastic item designed to be used once before it is discarded or recycled. Single-use plastic items include plastic carry bags, oxo-degradable plastics and other items whose part is made from plastic material.\u201d Art. 2(1).<\/p>\n
An exception to the prohibition exists for \u201chome compostable plastic items\u201d and \u201cwoven polypropylene.\u201d Art. 4.<\/p>\n
Although \u201chome compostable\u201d is not defined, \u201ccompostable plastic material\u201d is defined as \u201cany material made from single-use plastic or plastic carry bag made from plant-based synthetic materials capable of undergoing biological decomposition in natural conditions.\u201d Art. 2(2).<\/p>\n
Woven polypropylene is defined as \u201cpolypropylene strips\/threads that have been woven in two directions (warp and weft) to create a light, but strong and heavy duty material.\u201d Art. 2(9).<\/p>\n
The law includes a few aspects of Extended Producer Liability (EPR) including:<\/p>\n
1. Imposing an environmental levy on imported single-use plastic items and goods that come packaged in plastic (Art. 5); and<\/p>\n
2. Requiring \u201c[e]very manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer of plastic carry bags or single-use plastic items must put in place mechanisms to collect and segregate used plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items and hand them over to the recycling plants.\u201d Art. 6.<\/p>\n
Recycling is defined as \u201cthe process of collecting and processing plastic materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products.\u201d Art. 2(4).<\/p>\n
The law includes a list of sanctions depending on the violation (manufacturing, importing, etc.). The sanctions include ending the practice that violates the law, dispossession of illegal items, and fines. Arts. 9-13. Recidivism doubles the fine.\u00a0 These fines are \u201cdeposited into the National Fund for Environment.\u201d Art. 16.<\/p>\n
The law allows for a brief transition period, exempting single-use plastic items already on hand or ordered for 3 months. In addition, factories in Rwanda that are manufacturing prohibited items have 2 years to comply. Art. 17.<\/p>\n
> <\/b>Guidelines on Procedures and Conditions for Eligibility to Grant Exceptional Permission to Manufacture, Use, Import or Sell Single-Use Plastic Items or Pack Goods in Single-Use Plastics<\/i>, <\/b>Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) (8 December 2019)<\/p>\n
The law allows “A person who intends to manufacture, import and export or use plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items or pack goods in plastic material and single-use plastic items for exceptional reasons” to apply for exceptional authorization and requires the competent authority to establish guidelines for conditions for issuing the authorization.\u00a0Law No. 17\/2019.<\/p>\n
The Guidelines published on 9 December 2019 recognize that plastic bags have contributed to flooding and reduced agricultural productivity by preventing rain water from reaching the soil; and that burning plastic contributes to air pollution. The Guidelines also state that adopting the expanded single-use plastic ban in 2019 was in recognition that other types of plastic are equally harmful and that the law is \u201cintended to check the increasing habit of unnecessary consumption and disposal of single use plastic items which becomes a burden to the environment.\u201d .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
> Law No. 17\/2019 Relating to the Prohibition of Manufacturing, Importation, Use and Sale of Plastic Carry Bags and Single-Use Plastic Items Rwanda\u2019s Law No. 17\/2019 was adopted 10 August 2019 and came into force upon publishing on 23 September 2019.\u00a0 Repeals Law No. 57\/2008. \u201cThe manufacturing, importation or sale of plastic carry bags and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","resource-topic":[1989],"resource-type":[531],"resource-category":[30097],"content-for-websites":[30105],"region":[734,543],"class_list":["post-16936","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry","resource-topic-plastic","resource-type-laws","resource-category-legal","content-for-websites-plastic","region-rwanda","region-sub-saharan-africa"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/16936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topic?post=16936"},{"taxonomy":"resource-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-type?post=16936"},{"taxonomy":"resource-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-category?post=16936"},{"taxonomy":"content-for-websites","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-for-websites?post=16936"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=16936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}