Xinhuanet
Morocco started on Friday enforcing a ban on plastic bags nationwide.
Last October, the Moroccan parliament passed a landmark bill banning the production, import, sale and distribution of plastic bags across the North African kingdom.
The bill, which became law on July 1, is part of a larger environmentally conscious effort across the country to go green.
Having engaged in large-scale renewable energy projects, Morocco has launched the more challenging task of warning Moroccans against the use of plastic bags, which take hundreds of years to degrade.
The law seems timely since the kingdom is ranked as the largest consumer of plastic bags in Africa and the second in the world after the United States.
Green campaigners say the country’s consumers may need years to fully comply with the new law, the Moroccan Minister of Industry, however, clarified in a statement that there was going to be several alternatives made available in the wake of the ban, citing the use of paper and fabric.
Morocco ranks alongside Costa Rica, Bhutan and Ethiopia as one of the world’s greenest countries, a fact partially due to its ambitious goals to crackdown on carbon emissions.
The Moroccan city of Marrakesh is due to host the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 22) in this November. Enditem
