Addis Ababa — The shift away from single-use plastic bags will not arrive for most Ethiopians as a headline. It will arrive as a question.

A customer places a few items on the counter. The cashier announces the total. The customer gathers their items, pauses, and asks what has always been automatic.

“Bag?”

The cashier points to a different stack than before. Maybe paper. Maybe a reusable sack. Maybe nothing. The customer glances at the line behind them. She came on foot. Carrying items all the way to the taxi line is not a small inconvenience. The cashier stays polite while trying to keep the queue moving.

That moment is where this transition will be tested, day after day, across souks, farmers markets, supermarkets, cafés, pharmacies, and delivery counters.

The queue is the real battleground

Policy changes do not become culture because they are announced. They become culture when the replacement behavior is obvious, affordable, and easy to repeat.

If alternatives are not cheap and consistently available, the checkout counter turns into a daily friction point:

• staff arguments and customer frustration
• embarrassment for people who were not prepared
• slower service and longer lines
• inconsistent handling across branches
• informal workarounds that keep old habits alive
  

Handled well, the same moment becomes a quiet trust-builder. Customers adapt faster. Staff stress drops. The new habit spreads. The brand feels organized.

This is why the most useful way for businesses to think about the shift is not as a values campaign. It is as a continuity challenge.

Continuity is the strategy

The checkout moment is downstream of supply. If alternatives are scarce, expensive, or inconsistent, there is no smooth transition to communicate. There is only friction to manage.

A ban without affordable alternatives is not experienced as policy. It is experienced as inconvenience.

That is why readiness matters across the basics:

• paper supply that can meet demand
• reusable bag production at scale
• stable pricing and import capacity
• retail availability that holds branch to branch
• enforcement that is clear and fairly applied
  

Availability will shape public perception faster than any campaign. If the alternative is not there when the customer needs it, the customer blames the experience, not the supply chain.

Who absorbs the friction first

This change will land first on frontline businesses and the people who work there.

Customers will meet the transition through practical questions: What do I do now? What are the options? Does it cost extra?

Frontline teams will carry the emotional load. Without a standard approach, staff become accidental enforcers, fielding frustration while trying to keep service moving.

Brands will feel it through experience. Even if the bag is not technically “your packaging,” the bag moment wraps around your products. When checkout becomes messy, brand perception takes damage.

Suppliers will race to fill the gap. Paper, cloth, woven alternatives, and other substitutes will compete on price, strength, availability, and speed at the counter. Some plastic industry players will face disruption in single-use formats, while others may pivot into compliant packaging solutions and reusable formats depending on market rules and enforcement.

The continuity test for businesses

For customer-facing businesses, the transition comes down to continuity in four places.

1) Supply continuity

Pick a small set of options you can stock every day. “Sometimes we have bags” creates conflict.

2) Price continuity

No surprise fees. If alternatives cost money, price them visibly before checkout. Surprise charges create arguments and resentment.

3) Operations continuity

No slowdown at the counter. Alternatives must be easy to grab, easy to choose, and easy to explain in one sentence.

4) Narrative continuity

Use one practical message, consistent across staff and branches: what changed, what to do now, what options exist, and what it costs.

When these four hold, the new behavior spreads. When any one breaks, the checkout becomes the daily site of resistance.

Trust breaks in predictable ways

In transitions like this, trust does not collapse because customers disagree with the goal. It collapses because the experience feels unfair, confusing, or performative.

Four failures are especially costly:

• Shame: turning the moment into moral superiority
• Confusion: different answers from different staff, no signage, inconsistent handling
• Hidden pricing: surprise charges at the counter
• False eco claims: vague claims you cannot explain clearly

If a bag is marketed as “eco” but behaves like plastic in real conditions, credibility collapses.

What to do this week

Most businesses do not need a big campaign. They need disciplined execution.

Minimum standard:

• entry and checkout signage that sets expectation early
• a simple alternative menu customers can choose quickly
• visible pricing
• one calm staff script used consistently
• optional incentives for customers who bring reusables, only if sustainable

Two lines of copy can carry most of the transition:

Sign line: “Plastic bags are not available. Please bring a reusable bag or choose an alternative here.”

Staff line: “We don’t have plastic bags anymore. You can use your own bag or choose one of these options.”

The winning tone is not activism. It is service: calm, matter-of-fact, and non-judgmental.

The point

Sustainability becomes culture at the checkout counter.

Customers will not remember policy details. They will remember how your brand handled them in the line.