The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has arrested 300 people in Mombasa County as a crackdown on plastic bags continues apace.

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This was revealed by NEMA Director General Professor Geoffrey Wahungu during an exclusive interview with Royal Media Services-owned Citizen Television.

"We have done about 300 arrests. We have closed about 100 facilities so far, " the NEMA boss said

Prof Wahungu revealed that a majority of the plastic bags being used in Kenya were coming from across borders, naming Uganda as one of the sources.

NEMA has been conducting a public sensitisation and awareness campaign in a bid to convince Kenyans to stop using the plastic bags that have been said to contribute to environmental despoilment.

Nabbing the manufacturers of the bags was proving difficult, Prof Wahungu said, but tremendous progress had been in apprehending the distributors.

With regard to the discharge of toxic effluents, Wahungu said that the environmental authority was working round the clock to ensure that factories are treating the effluents before discharge.

Effluents being discharged in water bodies are being tested by NEMA to establish whether the effluent-discharging factories are complying with the required standards.

Those who meet the standards are then issued with a certificate of compliance.