MEXICO CITY (AP) – After more than a year of preparation, a wide-ranging ban on containers, forks, straws and other ubiquitous objects enters Mexico’s capital, one of the largest cities in the world.
Mexico City’s environmental secretary said Friday via Twitter that “as of today, Mexico City will be without plastic for single use.” The message encouraged people to think about always carrying reusable containers like never leaving home without their cell phones.
Mexico City lawmakers passed the 2019 ban on plastic bags, accessories and other disposable plastic items. The city of 9 million people has spent the past year adjusting or ignoring the looming legislative change in some cases. The ban on plastic bags came into effect last year.
Light, allegedly biodegradable bags have increasingly come to street food stalls in the city. Plastic straws are offered less frequently. Fresh tortillas are hand-wrapped in paper or cloths that buyers bring along.
But without the imposition of fines, the change is likely to be slow.
On Friday morning, a woman selling tamales under a large umbrella on the corner of a busy avenue in Mexico City slipped two into a plastic bag and offered two small colorful plastic spoons from a cup filled with it. Asked if she was aware of the ban’s entry into force, she said: “but with the coronavirus, they (authorities) have forgotten about it.”
Mexico City is currently under red warning because the COVID-19 beds of hospitals are near capacity.
The woman, who refused to give her name because she did not want to be selected for enforcement, said it was not just her. She said traders and market stalls still use plastic in the city.
She asked how she had to give customers steaming hot tamales without a plastic bag.
The ban also covers plastic cups, plastic stirrers, disposable coffee capsules and balloons.
According to the capital’s environmental agency, Mexico City produced approximately 13,000 tons of garbage per day in 2019.