Chile mulling general ban on plastic bags

Chile's government presented its proposals to parliament on 8 May for a nationwide ban on "the use of plastic bags in shops," media reported. President Sebastián Piñera wrote on Twitter that "we do not want more bags polluting our cities, countryside, beaches and seas." The initiative is meant to substitute the earlier 2017 ban on plastic bag distribution in 102 seaside districts. The Government states that Chile currently produced 3.4 billion plastic bags a year and that residents of Santiago alone used 62.2 million bags a year, CNN reported. Some eight million tonnes of plastic are stated as ending up in the world's oceans every year, according to NGOs like Plastic Oceans, with increasing reports of wildlife choking on them. In late April, the Environment Minister Marcela Cubillos specified that the measure would include "so-called biodegradable" bags, and go into force within a year of approval and publication in the official gazette, or two years for smaller businesses. Meanwhile, she added, businesses could hand customers a maximum of two plastic bags for every purchase, the national daily El Mercurio reported on 27 April.