The Costa Rican government recently signed a "ban on plastic bags", prohibiting businesses from selling and distributing plastic bags for free, and completely banning plastic straws, which will be officially implemented one year later.

The bill mainly includes: requiring commercial institutions such as supermarkets to provide handbags containing no less than 50% recycled plastic or biodegradable plastic; Require importers, manufacturers, and distributors of disposable plastic bottles to produce or sell plastic bottles containing a certain proportion of recycled resin, and establish a waste recycling mechanism; Prohibit all national institutions in Costa Rica from purchasing disposable plastic products such as tableware and food containers.

According to data released by the health department of Costa Rica, 40 tons of plastic waste do not enter the recycling system every day, posing a serious threat to the ecosystem and biodiversity. According to relevant research institutions, in 2015 alone, Costa Rica generated nearly 10 million kilograms of poorly managed plastic waste. Without intervention, it is expected that plastic waste will reach 16 million kilograms by 2040 and almost double to nearly 20 million kilograms by 2060.

In recent years, the Costa Rican government has increased policy guidance and introduced relevant laws and regulations to strengthen control over the production, consumption, recycling and other aspects of plastic products. In 2017, the country introduced a national strategy to address the issue of disposable plastics, aimed at gradually phasing out disposable plastic products in major domestic cities. In 2019, the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly issued a law incorporating plastic waste management into the curriculum of students in school; In the same year, to support the use of more environmentally friendly alternatives in commercial activities, Costa Rica enacted legislation prohibiting the import and transportation of polystyrene containers and encouraging the banking system to provide financial support to enterprises developing alternative products. In 2021, the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica issued a directive prohibiting the use of disposable plastic products in national nature reserves, in order to further reduce the impact of plastic waste on the ecological environment.

The Costa Rican government actively promotes departmental cooperation, carries out incentive activities, and enhances the enthusiasm of the public to actively participate in plastic pollution control. For example, the Ministry of Health and some enterprises jointly launched the "Eco coin" plan to encourage the public to classify and recycle waste. People can open personal "eco currency" electronic accounts, sort and organize recyclable materials, and send them to designated recycling points to obtain virtual currency - "eco currency". When purchasing goods from participating enterprises in the plan, the public can use "eco currency" to offset or receive corresponding discounts. At present, this activity has received support from other countries in the Latin American region, and countries such as Panama, Peru, Colombia, and Argentina have also joined the plan.

Costa Rica has also strengthened cooperation with neighboring countries and international organizations to address plastic pollution. Costa Rica has developed an action plan with seven neighboring countries to address the issue of marine debris pollution, and has taken corresponding actions through intergovernmental cooperation. Last year, the Costa Rican government and the United Nations Development Programme jointly launched the 'Plastic Free Landscape Project', aiming to remove 200000 tons of improperly processed non recyclable plastic and convert it into building materials. The plan will install recycling facilities in the four most severely polluted rivers in Costa Rica to accelerate the collection of plastic waste