Morocco Struggles to Enforce Plastic Bag Ban as Pollution Persists

The entry into force of law 77-15 in 2015 (zero mika), banning plastic bags, has only slightly reduced their proportion of household waste (12%). This is the result of the response of the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development to a question from the parliamentary group of the Rassemblement national des indépendants (RNI) on the management of plastic waste. "Although we have a law, it has not been fully implemented on the ground and the use of plastics has increased, especially during the Covid pandemic," she said.

Leila Benali justifies these mixed results by the shortcomings in the application of the law and the exacerbated behaviors during the Covid-19 pandemic. To meet this environmental challenge, she called for a collective effort. According to her, the success of the fight against plastic pollution depends as much on reforms as on citizen engagement.
"The fight against pollution and the risks associated with plastic waste is an obligation for us, because there is a United Nations resolution, 14/5, from the United Nations Environment Assembly, which commits Morocco in this context to take several measures to meet this global challenge," she recalled.

Leila Benali also said that her department has prepared the law that amends law 28-00 with a set of very important measures in this framework to reduce waste production, selective sorting, and extended producer responsibility.