The municipal council of Tijuana, Baja California, has unanimously approved a prohibition on plastic bags.
Convenience stores and supermarkets will have 180 days to phase out the ubiquitous plastic bags in favor of environmentally-friendly alternatives.
The municipality will also implement strategic solid waste management programs and a campaign that will inform the public and raise awareness about the harmful effects of the bags.
The measure is a direct result of Tijuana being the first city in Mexico to join the global Clean Seas campaign in June last year.
The campaign against plastic pollution was launched in the spring of 2017 by the United Nations Environment Program.
The ban on bags has the support of the local service industry, the Tijuana chapter of Canacintra, the National Chamber for Industrial Transformation and the non-governmental organization Economía Verde Aplicada.
The president of the municipal commission for the environment, sustainable development and health, Mónica Vega, explained that the measure puts Tijuana at the national forefront of sustainable cities by implementing an environmentally-aware public policy.
According to data compiled by the federal Secretariat of the Environment, Mexico generates close to 103,000 tonnes of trash every day, 10.9% of which are plastics which are often washed away by rain and end up in the ocean.
Tijuana is at least the second municipality to outlaw the bags in the last month. Querétaro appears to have been the first to do so. Ensenada, Baja California, recently followed suit.
