Mexico City passes ban on plastic bags, single-use utensils
Canadian Plastics
Environment Packaging SustainabilitySet to come into force in December 2020 or January 2021, the ban will include such articles as non-biodegradable plastic bags, straws, cutlery, cups, and coffee capsules.
Mexico City lawmakers have passed a ban on plastic bags, utensils, and other disposable single-use plastic items that will begin to take effect at the end of 2020.
The city of more than 9 million residents is the most populous metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere.
Plastic bags will be banned in the Mexican capital in December 2020, and plastics straws cutlery, cups, and coffee capsules will be banned as of January 2021.
In a statement, the legislature called the products a “serious environmental problem.”
The statement did not mention what penalties could be applied for noncompliance with the ban.
Mexico’s national plastics industry trade association, the Asociación Nacional de Industrias del Plástico (Anipac), issued a statement that was critical of the upcoming ban. “[We] regret that the Congress of Mexico City has not taken into account the sector’s proposals for the preparation and approval of the reform of the Solid Waste Law of the Federal District, a decision that will affect the economy of the capital and its inhabitants, not just the industry,” Anipac said.
