The small isthmus nation of Panama, with a population of only 4 million people in all, has now joined the world’s growing trend of banning single-use plastic bags in an effort to clean up its beaches and preserve ocean wildlife. So far, more than 60 other nations have outright or partially banned single-use plastic bags, or introduced taxes to dissuade their use, including Chile and Colombia in the region, as well as multiple cities and states in the United States.
This ban makes Panama the first Central American nation to ban single-use plastic bags. There are signs up all around down the streets of Panama City that read, “less plastic, more life” serving as reminders to passersby that the measure had gone into effect. The Panama government consumer protection agency, Acodeco, recommends that shoppers bring reusable bags with them when they go shopping.
Victoria Gomez, a 42-year-old secretary in downtown Panama City, is pleased about the ban going into effect. She said: “This seems like a good measure because you avoid continuing to pollute the streets and the community.”
Near populated areas along Panama’s coastline, it is common to see plastic waste littering beaches, a hazard waiting to happen. Latin America is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world and it is witnessing the disastrous effects of plastic pollution. Countless birds, turtles, seals, whales, and fish there have been getting entangled or ingesting the remnants of plastic bags and dying.
The country hopes the ban will curb pollution on its beaches and help tackle what the United Nations has identified as ‘one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges’. From here on out, supermarkets, pharmacies, and retailers in Panama are not allowed to use traditional polyethylene plastic bags under penalty of a fine. Wholesale stores will have until 2020 to conform to the policy approved in 2018. There are exceptions for the use of plastic bags for sanitary reasons only, such as with raw food.
Given projected growth in consumption, if the world does not comply to new anti-pollution policies (such as bans on single-use plastics) the oceans are expected to contain more plastic than fish (by weight) by 2050. The entire plastics industry will consume 20% of total oil production by then, according to the New Plastics Economy report published by Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2016.
