- Title: Mexico City bans plastic bags
- Date: 3rd January 2020
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JANUARY 03, 2020) (REUTERS) FRUIT AND VEGETABLE VENDOR PUTTING ITEMS IN CUSTOMER'S REUSABLE BAG VARIOUS OF VENDOR FOLDING BAGS TO USE IN PLACE OF PLASTIC BAGS FRUIT AND VEGETABLE VENDOR PUTTING ITEMS IN CUSTOMER'S REUSABLE BAG CUSTOMERS AT FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET TOMATOES ON SALE WOMAN PUTTING VEGETABLES IN REUSABLE BAG VARIOUS OF CUSTOMERS AT MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENDOR AT FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET, GABRIEL SANCHEZ, SAYING: "It was just paper bags in the 60s and the start of the 70s. After the 70s plastic bags were used and now we're going back once again to paper bags, fibre bags, baskets, to customers bringing their own bags. I think it will take a while but that people will get used to it." CUSTOMER AT FRUIT AND VEGETABLE STALL FRUIT AND VEGETABLES BEING PACKED IN REUSABLE BAG VARIOUS OF CUSTOMER WITH REUSABLE BAG (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CONSUMER AT FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET, YUMIKO LILIAN, SAYING: "It (bringing re-usable bags) is a way to look after the environment. I think it's a good system to save (on plastic). I feel there should have been more announcements so that more people are aware that plastic bags won't be given out." CUSTOMERS CARRYING REUSABLE BAGS VARIOUS OF PERSON PACKING GROCERIES IN REUSABLE BAGS CUSTOMER PUSHING LOOSE ITEMS IN TROLLEY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CONSUMER AT FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET, TANIA AGUILAR, SAYING: "It (ban) is good because it builds awareness on not polluting the environment and there's a lot of pollution here of plastic bags and styrofoam. So it's something good." MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JANUARY 02, 2020) (REUTERS) REUTERS INTERVIEW WITH TOP ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OFFICIAL IN MEXICO CITY, ANDREE LILIAN GUIGUE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TOP ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OFFICIAL IN MEXICO CITY, ANDREE LILIAN GUIGUE, SAYING: "What happens to a plastic bag, the majority are re-used for garbage. So where does the bag end up? It ends up in bins, in dumps and there is no way to guarantee that that bag could be recycled 100 percent." MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JANUARY 03, 2020) (REUTERS) SHOPPERS WITH PLASTIC BAGS VARIOUS OF GROCERIES BEING PACKED IN REUSABLE BAG MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JANUARY 02, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TOP ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OFFICIAL IN MEXICO CITY, ANDREE LILIAN GUIGUE, SAYING: "We have to remove plastic out of circulation because what's happening with plastic and other items that damage the environment is that they end up in the city's ravines, in the city's forests, in the city's public places. And no one picks them up." MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JANUARY 03, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SANITATION MANAGEMENT OFFICIAL SORTING OUT RECYCLABLE GARBAGE GARBAGE TRUCK
- Embargoed: 17th January 2020 22:41
- Keywords: Mexico City ban environment plastic bags reusable
- Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA001BUMECEF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Give a shopper a plastic bag at the supermarket, and at best, that person will reuse it to take out the trash - sending that plastic straight to the garbage dump.
That's the thinking of the Mexico City government, which this week put a ban on plastic bags, in line with global efforts to protect the environment, in spite of protests from the Mexican companies that produce them.
The regulation, which went into effect on January 1, prohibits merchants from selling or handing out the single-use plastic bags that are pervasive among all manner of retailers, from big-box Walmart stores to corner shops selling cokes and smokes.
Fines for violations range from 42,000 pesos ($2,219) to 170,000 pesos ($8,987), but Guigue said she hopes shoppers will take responsibility.
Various consumer companies, including Walmart's Mexico unit, breadmaker Grupo Bimbo and Femsa, which owns the expansive Oxxo corner store chain, signed an agreement with the city vowing to offer fabric and other types of reusable bags for free this month, as well as look for other ways to cut down on plastic packaging.
But plastic producers have rejected the city's plan, insisting it is confusing and will cost jobs and profits in an industry already grappling to adjust to a patchwork of reforms in various cities across Mexico.
A recent United Nations report found that some 127 countries now regulate plastic bag usage. Yet plastic still remains a massive environmental challenge with about 8 million metro tonnes of plastic ending up in the ocean annually.
(Production: Josue Gonzalez, Rodolfo Pena Roja, Paul Vieira) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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