State by state, Mexico is steadily implementing bans on disposable plastic objects.

The most recent state to do so is Oaxaca after the state Congress voted yesterday to ban single-use plastic, including plastic shopping bags, straws and Styrofoam objects.

The law gives establishments in the 570 municipalities of the southeastern state one year to get rid of disposable plastics in their inventory.

Municipal administrations have been given a six-month deadline to incorporate penalties in local laws to punish violations of the ban.

The move against single-use plastic in the state started in 2010, when the municipality of San Bartolo Coyotepec officially banned the use of plastic shopping bags.

In October, Oaxaca city banned the use of Styrofoam products.

The state of Veracruz led the new trend in banning plastic with a law last year that called for a reduction in the use of straws and other disposable plastic products.

Straws are also banned in Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos, or magical towns.

The city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, has ruled that starting next year the use of straws will be banned, and a new law is in the making that will also ban plastic shopping bags.

Tijuana, Baja California, and Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, have implemented a similar ban on plastic bags, with the latter including straws in its regulations.

Guerrero has also banned those products, along with disposable plastic cutlery and Styrofoam products.

Several municipalities in México state have implemented similar regulations.

At least 16 states — Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guerrero, México, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz and Yucatán — have in some shape or form started to phase out the use of single-use plastic.

Source: Milenio (sp), Dinero en Imagen (sp)