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FILE PHOTO: A giant plastic bottle is seen on a beach, during a Greenpeace action to alert regarding the presence of plastics on the coast of Viña del Mar
SANTIAGO, Feb 11 (Archyde.com) – Cutlery, glasses, straws for drinks, food containers: all these products will be banned in Chile from Sunday when a law that regulates the use of plastics in the food business comes into effect. food, as part of a broader regulation that seeks to increase recycling.
The law on single-use plastics, enacted in August last year, limits restaurants and other food outlets from generating and using these products both for home delivery service and for consumption within the establishments.
“This regulation will allow us to reduce more than 23,000 tons a year of plastics, which are single-use plastics and therefore have a tremendous benefit for the environment,” said Deputy Environment Minister Marcelo Fernández.
In 2016, Chile enacted the Recycling and Extended Producer Responsibility Law (REP), which requires the collection and reuse of products through the gradual setting of recycling targets for tires, paper, glass and plastic, as well as other articles such as lubricating oils, batteries and electronics.
The new law will prohibit the delivery of some plastic items from the outset, but will establish periods of up to three years for restaurants, cafes and other venues to adapt and sell food in reusable devices to customers who consume on the spot.
For the ‘delivery’, only disposable products made of materials other than plastic can be delivered, while prepared food can be made in plastic, but it must be composed totally or partially of materials produced from renewable resources and must be compostable.
According to 2018 data from the World Bank, of the Latin American nations that speak Spanish or Portuguese, Chile is the second country behind Mexico that generates the most garbage, while its recycling rates are also very low.
(Reporting by Natalia Ramos and Archyde.com TV; edited in Spanish by Daniela Desantis)