The Costa Rican government signed a "plastic ban" on April 12, banning the sale and free distribution of plastic bags and banning plastic straws, which will be officially implemented one year later. And the "eco-coin" will be extended to many countries in Latin America.
The bill mainly includes: requiring supermarkets and other commercial establishments to provide carrier bags with no less than 50% recycled plastic or biodegradable plastic content; requiring importers, manufacturers and distributors of single-use plastic bottles to produce or sell plastic bottles containing a certain percentage of recycled resin and establishing a waste recycling mechanism; and prohibiting all state institutions in Costa Rica from purchasing disposable plastic products such as tableware and food containers.
Data released by Costa Rica's health department shows that 40 tons of plastic waste in the country does not enter the recycling system every day, posing a serious threat to the ecosystem and biodiversity. Also according to relevant research institutions, in 2015 alone, Costa Rica produced nearly 10 million kilograms of poorly managed plastic waste, which, without intervention, is expected to reach 16 million kilograms by 2040 and almost double to nearly 20 million kilograms by 2060.
In recent years, the Costa Rican government has increased policy guidance and introduced relevant laws and regulations to strengthen control over the production, consumption, recycling and other aspects of plastic products. In 2017, the country introduced a national strategy on single-use plastics aimed at having the country's major cities phase out single-use plastic products. in 2019, Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly enacted a law to include content related to plastic waste management in the curriculum of school students; in the same year, to support the use of more environmentally friendly alternatives in business activities, Costa Rica legislated a ban on the import and transportation, and encouraged the banking system to provide financial support to companies developing alternative products. In 2021, the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy issued a directive banning the use of single-use plastic products in national nature reserves, to reduce the ecological impact of plastic waste to a greater extent.
The Costa Rican government actively promotes sectoral cooperation and incentive activities to increase the population's initiative to participate in the fight against plastic pollution. For example, the Ministry of Health, together with some companies, has launched the "eco-coin" program to encourage people to separate and recycle waste. People can open a personal "eco-coin" electronic account and receive a virtual currency, "eco-coin", after sorting recyclables and delivering them to designated collection points. When purchasing goods from companies participating in the program, people can use "eco-coins" to get a credit or a discount. Currently, the program is supported by other countries in Latin America, including Panama, Peru, Colombia and Argentina.
Costa Rica is also strengthening its cooperation with neighboring countries and international organizations to combat plastic pollution. In response to the problem of marine litter pollution, Costa Rica has developed action plans with seven neighboring countries to take action through intergovernmental cooperation. Last year, the Costa Rican government, together with the United Nations Development Programme, launched the Plastic-Free Landscapes Program, which aims to remove 200,000 tons of non-recyclable plastic that has not been properly disposed of and convert it into building materials. The program will install recycling devices in four of Costa Rica's most plastic-polluted rivers to speed up the process of collecting plastic waste.
