Costa Rica aims at replacing most single-use plastics [Video]

Costa Rica seeks to be free of single-use plastic, and top officials including President Luis Guillermo Solís disclosed the details of a national strategy to achieve that goal during a public event to celebrate the World Environment Day on Monday.

Officials from the Environment Ministry (MINAE), the Public Health Ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) outlined the strategy to replace the consumption of plastic products with those manufactured with renewable and compostable materials.

The main objective is that, by 2021, at least 80 percent of the country’s public agencies, municipalities and businesses replace their disposable plastic packaging with materials that have a lower environmental impact. MINAE announced at the event that it has already ordered all its departments to purchase only products made from renewable, compostable and biodegradable materials.

Health Minister María Esther Anchía said that Costa Rica generates 4,000 tons of waste every day. Of these, 11 percent correspond to plastics that …