The city’s government this week banned single-use plastic bags to complement worldwide efforts to protect the environment, sparking protests from companies that produce them.
“We have to take plastic out of circulation,” said Andree Lilian Guigue, the official overseeing the ban in Mexico City, one of the world’s biggest metropolises. “Plastic and other waste products that damage the planet end up in the ravines, woods and public spaces of the city – and nobody cleans it up.”
The ban that began Jan. 1 prohibits the sale or distribution of the bags pervasive everywhere from Walmart to corner shops.
Plastics industry association ANIPAC says the roughly 20 million people who live in Mexico City and its sprawl use about 68,000 tons of bags a year.
Fines for plastic offenders could range from 42,000 pesos ($2,219) to 170,000 pesos.
Gabriel Sanchez, who hawks produce at a marketplace, said the ban was a return to 1960s packaging.
REFS
Published on reuters.com
Mexico City goes back to the future with plastic bag ban
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