Law 98-25, which covers solid waste, requires the elimination of single-use plastic bags in the Dominican Republic. As a result, businesses are studying just how to deal with this situation via a set of regulations that will allow for the implementation of the law whose application has been postponed to give the business sector more time.
A spokesperson for the National Organization of Commercial Enterprises (ONEC) reported that a meeting was scheduled with representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, the plastics manufacturers, and the commercial sector. The idea is to come up with a set of rules that can be followed by all of the commercial entities, not just the supermarkets and big stores, but also the street vendors, colmados, and pharmacies.
The key point is that Article 27 of the law modifies part of the former Law 225-20 on solid waste, and provides a new 12-month grace period before the total prohibition of single-use plastic bags goes into effect. Stores are required to engage in educational campaigns, introduce reusable bags and other alternatives for packaging. There are even proposals to charge for plastic as one solution, but there are many questions about just how to do this, including taxes, costs, and inventory issues.
Another proposal is to have bags that are good for more than just one use, or bags made from other materials. The nation’s ecology will appreciate any solution to the issue of those plastic bags.
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Diario Libre
9 March 2026