Enacted
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Law or Bill
Basel Convention plastic waste amendments
International | In force since January 2021
Since 2021, shipments of mixed or contaminated plastic waste between countries need the prior consent of the importing country.
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Law or Bill
California SB 1053 (plastic checkout bags)
California, USA | In effect since January 2026
Ends the sale of thick “reusable” plastic film bags at checkout from 1 January 2026, closing a loophole in the state’s earlier bag ban.
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Law or Bill
India ban on identified single-use plastics
India | In force since July 2022
Bans the making, sale and use of a list of low-utility single-use items, such as plastic cutlery, straws and thin carry bags, from July 2022.
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Law or Bill
Kenya plastic bag ban
Kenya | In force since August 2017
One of the world’s strictest bag bans (2017), later extended to single-use plastics in protected areas.
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Law or Bill
Mexico City single-use plastics ban
Mexico City, Mexico | In force
Banned plastic bags in 2020 and many single-use items such as cutlery, straws and cups in 2021.
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Law or Bill
Oregon Bottle Bill
Oregon, USA | In force since 1972
America’s first container deposit law (1971), still one of the highest-performing deposit systems in the country.
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Law or Bill
Panama plastic bag ban (Law 1 of 2018)
Panama | In force
Panama became the first country in Central America to ban single-use polyethylene bags, relevant to our Bocas del Toro projects.
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Law or Bill
Rwanda single-use plastics law
Rwanda | In force
Rwanda banned plastic bags in 2008 and most single-use plastic items in 2019, and co-chairs the High Ambition Coalition.
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Law or Bill
UK Plastic Packaging Tax
United Kingdom | In force since April 2022
Tax on plastic packaging with less than 30 percent recycled content, in force since April 2022.
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Law or Bill
US Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015
United States | Law since December 2015
Federal ban on plastic microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics, prompted by research that included 5 Gyres’ Great Lakes sampling.
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Law or Bill
US Save Our Seas 2.0 Act
United States | Law since December 2020
Federal law (2020) that strengthens marine debris response, funds research and supports international cooperation on ocean plastic.