Panama: First Country in Central America to Ban Plastic Bags

On July 20, Panama became the first country in Central America to ban all single-use plastic bags in an effort to help mitigate coastal pollution.

Under the ban, grocery stores, pharmacies and retailers in Panama must stop using traditional polyethylene plastic bags immediately, while wholesale stores will have until 2020 to conform to the policy.

Reuters has more:

Panama on Saturday became the first Central American nation to ban single-use plastic bags to try to curb pollution on its beaches and help tackle what the United Nations has identified as one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges.

The isthmus nation of roughly 4 million people joined more than 60 other countries that have totally or partially banned single-use plastic bags, or introduced taxes to dissuade their use, including Chile and Colombia in the region.

Read the full article here.