The environmental damage that plastic waste is causing has catalyzed government action against plastic bags around the world. Despite anti-plastic bag policies gaining traction globally, there has been limited investigation of why the implementation of bans has varied. The variation in implementing bans is particularly stark in East Africa, a region that has been at the forefront of plastic bag legislation. Rwanda’s implementation of a ban on plastic bags in 2008 has attracted widespread praise for its environmental leadership. Kenya adopted a plastic bag ban before Rwanda but implementation was consistently delayed until a stringent ban was finally imposed in 2018. In Uganda, despite bans being announced on four separate occasions, implementation continues to be delayed. This paper explains why some governments adopt and effectively enforce plastic bag bans while others reverse course or delay implementation. Existing literature has cited the comparative strength of plastic industries as the salient factor in explaining varied adoption of plastic bag bans. This paper argues that though the comparative business power of plastic industries explains whether bans are obstructed, it does not satisfactorily explain varied implementation. Instead, countries that pursue services-based development strategies, which prioritise externally dependent sectors like tourism, are more likely to implement plastic bag bans, which can help bolster their green credentials. For the Rwandan and Kenyan governments, presenting their countries as environmental leaders contributed to their goals of becoming a regional economic hub, reliant on services like tourism. The Kenyan government’s decision to eventually implement the ban was driven by a perceived need to compete with Rwanda for regional environmental leadership while supporting Kenya’s services-based economic development strategy. In contrast, Uganda’s comparatively larger discovery of oil and limited emphasis on services-based development explained the government’s lack of commitment to implementing a plastic bag ban.

塑料废物造成的环境破坏已促使政府对全世界的塑料袋采取行动。尽管反塑料袋政策在全球范围内受到关注，但对为何实施禁令的原因的调查有限。东非是实施塑料袋立法最前沿的地区，其实施禁令的变化尤为明显。卢旺达于2008年实施的塑料袋禁令，因其在环境方面的领导地位而受到广泛赞誉。肯尼亚在卢旺达之前通过了塑料袋禁令，但实施一直被推迟，直到2018年最终实施了严格的禁令。在乌干达，尽管四次宣布了禁令，但实施仍在继续。本文解释了为什么有些政府采用并有效执行塑料袋禁令，而另一些政府却改变了做法或推迟了实施。现有文献已将塑料工业的相对实力作为解释采用塑料袋禁令的重要因素。本文认为，尽管塑料行业的比较商业力量可以解释禁令是否受到阻碍，但不能令人满意地解释各种实施方式。取而代之的是，奉行以服务为基础的发展战略的国家，这些战略优先考虑像旅游业这样的外部依赖部门，这些国家更可能实施塑料袋禁令，这有助于巩固其绿色信誉。对于卢旺达和肯尼亚政府来说，以环境领导人的身份介绍自己的国家有助于他们成为区域经济中心的目标，依靠旅游业等服务。肯尼亚政府决定最终实施该禁令的决定是由于人们认为有必要与卢旺达竞争以支持区域环境领导，同时支持肯尼亚基于服务业的经济发展战略。相比之下，乌干达发现的石油相对较多，并且对服务型开发的重视程度有限，这说明政府缺乏实施塑料袋禁令的决心。