If report reaching the news desk of CEOAFROCA.com from Douala Cameroun is anything to go by, then plastic bags would soon become a thing of the past in the country, as all measures are in place to eradicate the use of plastic bags by 2014. The measure seeks to halt their risk to human and animal life as well as the environment.

It was also disclosed that producers and marketers of non-degradable plastic wrappers in Cameroun have been ordered to stop the business early next year, or face government sanction. 
The Ministry of Environment said anyone who defies the order upon expiration of the deadline, risk between two to ten years in jail and fines of up to 20, 000 US dollars. 
 
SOURCES disclosed that the clampdown was triggered by a study issued last year that some six million tons of plastic waste are generated across Cameroon every year.  The report further adds that over half of all plastic bag users dump them anywhere.
 
Places in the country are littered with the discarded tattered plastic bags flapping from roof and tree-tops, tucked underneath shrubs, littering streets and open fields and clogging drainage systems.

Speaking about hazards posed by these plastic bags, William Lemnyuy, an official in charge of waste control in the Ministry of the Environment, said the bags can block gutters and create flood. They can also prevent water from entering the soil and ingested plastics can also block the bowels of livestock.
 
The disposable bags are made from polyethylene, a petroleum byproduct with long repeating chains of hydrogen and carbon molecules known as polymers which can be heated, shaped and cooled to obtain plastic bags. 

They're relatively cheap to produce and easily affordable and can easily be tossed away. But plastics can take a thousand years to decompose, and even so, they only break down into smaller toxic particles that contaminate water, soils and people.
 
Meanwhile, the proposed ban has started generating controversies in the country, because every marketer package their goods inside non-degradable plastic bags in Cameroun and other parts of Africa.

However, environmentalists said there are alternatives like leaves, cartons and biodegradable materials which can be used to replace non-degradable plastic bags.

In the meantime, civil society organizations are joining government efforts to help recycle waste into usable productions – including woven fashion accessories, roof insulation, drums and children’s’ soccer balls.