Puerto Rico town bans plastic bags

The resort of Rincón in Puerto Rico was reported on 7 April to be the island's first district to ban the distribution of plastic bags by shops, responding to the visible pollution of local waters, the Associated Press reported. The municipal website put Rincón's population at just over 14,700, with a much larger "floating" population of tourists. The ban was to enter into force in February 2015, after which shops would have to sell recycled paper bags and face fines of between USD 100 and 500 for giving out plastic bags. The mayor of Rincón, Carlos López Bonilla, was cited as urging other districts to follow suit, though the island has yet to approve a territorial ban or restrictions on plastic bags, AP reported. Mr López said the move was part of the "hard work" being done to preserve the district's "14 miles of" beaches and the local Tres Palmas reserve. "Plastic bags last hundreds of years...and represent a potential source of dangerous chemicals when they deteriorate. They...do not degrade but break into little pieces that penetrate our soil or are washed into our rivers, lakes and oceans," El Nuevo Día cited Mr López as saying.