Mexico's leading plastics trade group is criticizing a municipal ban on plastic bags in Querétaro.
Asociación Nacional de Industrias del Plástico AC (Anipac) called the move a “serious mistake” and said authorities had ignored public and industry recommendations on the issue.
City officials unanimously approved the ban on Dec. 13. They said the ban puts the city in the vanguard of the pro-environment movement in Mexico and aligns it with international treaties on climate change.
Authorities said 2 million plastic bags are distributed in Querétaro every day, creating 8,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide and taking “between 100 and 500 years” to degrade.
Juan Antonio Hernández León, Anipac's president, urged city authorities to think again.
“We ask the city government of Querétaro to accept our offer to review the analysis of the life cycle of plastic bags, to accept and recognize the plastics industry's suggestions with regard to sustainability and to visit the country's plastics recycling plants to see the progress that has been made in this area.”
Hernández is a former president of a 40-strong group of plastic bag companies called Industriales de Bolsas Plásticas de México AC. Anipac, he added, “believes that trying to solve the problem of managing solid waste through introducing bans is a serious mistake because the problem lies in the inadequate management of the waste.”
He added: “We're worried that the government of the municipality of Querétaro has not taken into account” the impact on jobs and families.
