With the request for the extension of businessmen and without the application of fines, as of January 1, 2021, the new provisions of the Solid Waste Law of Mexico City, which prohibit, in addition to bags, single-use products such as forks, knives, spoons, mixing sticks, plates, straws, cotton swabs, balloons and sticks, cups and lids, food transport trays and coffee pods.
Interviewed by EL UNIVERSAL, Claudia Hernandez Fernandez, Director of Environmental Culture of the Ministry of the Environment (Sedema), said that the new provisions, approved since 2019, seek to reduce a large part of the 1,700 tons of plastics that are generated per day.
Before the call of businessmen to delay the ban, he assured that “there is no going back”, because they have had more than a year to look for alternatives to plastics, such as using containers or compostable items, the latter are the only ones that will be allowed.
“There is no extension, it is not a process that began in the pandemic Not even now, it is being analyzed and we have had several talks. We understand that it is a process of change, but there is no extension and the dialogue will begin in January before warning. The spirit of the law is that we avoid producing and consuming products that are intended to be used and thrown away ”, stated Hernández Fernández.
Also read: What will be the plastics that will be banned from Friday in CDMX?
In 2021 the same scheme with which Sedema started this year for the bag banIn other words, businesses that sell or distribute single-use plastics will not be fined but there will be dialogue; in case of not complying they will receive a warning, later a fine of 42 thousand to 170 thousand pesos can arrive.
“We do not have the purpose of sanctioning people, our objective is to guide,” he clarified.
From July to December, due to the pandemic, the agency visited 1,347 restaurants to indicate that the Waste Law and the ban on plastic bags are still in force, and they detected that 20% use them.
On December 23, the head of the capital government, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, indicated that businesses will not be fined for failing to comply with the new provisions, because the establishments are in a difficult economic situation due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Also read: CDMX will launch an information campaign before fining for disposable plastics
An information campaign will be launched. This strategy will last the first two months of 2021 and it will be until March when fines are applied.
The Secretary of the Environment, Marina Robles GarciaHe stressed that they have worked with the business chambers on the measure and assured that there is a positive spirit.
The plastics industry will lose 3,000 jobs this year, says ANIPAC.
They keep request
Aldimir Torres Arenas, president of the National Association of Plastic Industries AC, (Anipac), stated that they maintain the request to the Government to postpone the ban, since the current emergency would affect traders from various sectors.
He said that the prohibited items contribute to the containment of contagions, which would generate a high cost to consumers, job losses, added to the effects that the industry has suffered during the contingency months.
Also read: IP has progress on recycling and plastic collection
“Cutlery, trays and food containers were essential for sectors such as the restaurateur or the informal food trade to reactivate,” the manager told this publishing house.
Torres Arenas said that this year it is estimated to close with a loss of 3,200 jobs, a figure that can presumably be increased if the prohibition takes effect.
