DAKAR, Senegal -                             In a move to curb the environmental effect of plastic bags, Senegal’s authorities have mapped out plans to crack down on pollutes by imposing fines and further restricting plastic use.

This development follows as the country said its tired of seeing seascapes spoiled by ever-growing mounds of cheap plastic bags.

The West African country, whose beaches on the Atlantic attract tourists from all over the world, is one of the world’s biggest contributors to ocean plastic despite having a population of just 15 million.

A study in 2010, reported by the journal Science, put it 21st out of all nations for quantity of waste being dumped in the sea – with 254,770 tonnes, only just behind the United States, a vastly bigger economy with many times more people and coastline.

Across Senegal, plastic containers are strewn across roads, often with goats and cows feeding on them, while rubbish can be seen floating in the sea, according to Egypt Independent, citing Reuters.

Globally, public awareness is growing about the harm being done by plastic, which hurts marine life and instead of biodegrading breaks down into ubiquitous microplastics.

According to science writer Mike Berners-Lee, of the nine billion tonnes of plastic ever produced, 5.4 billion has been dumped onto land or the sea – enough to shrink wrap the planet in clingfilm.

In Senegal, a 2015 law banned the most common thin polythene bags but was never applied. Grocers wrap individual items, even blobs of cheese, butter and coffee in copious plastic.

“The law is not enforced. When you reach major cities, you are greeted by an unpleasant decor, a … visual pollution made of plastic waste as far as the eye can see,” Environment Minister Abdou Karim Sall told Reuters.

“We will go around shops … we have security forces who can support us. We’re going to start enforcing this law in its full force,” he said.

Sall said the government would introduce a new bill in the coming months to ban a wider range of plastic, including thicker shopping bags, following similar moves in Kenya and Rwanda.

Adding that Environmental officers will hold public gatherings to inform people about the negative effects of plastics for health, fishing and farming.

Then police will enforce a law which fines shopkeepers up to 50,000 CFA francs ($85) for distributing the bags, a lot for a country with a GDP per capita of $1,500, according to World Bank figures.

Those manufacturing thinner bags risk six months in prison or 20 million CFA francs ($34,000) in fines.

Plastic bags can have various negative impacts on the environment. In addition to the use of natural resources and waste from plastic bag production, plastic bags can increase the risk of flooding. ... Plastic pollution in oceans has been shown to have a negative impact on hundreds of different species of marine life