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Single-use plastics: the ban exists, but is under moratorium until 2027

Last reviewed: August 24, 2026 — VerifiedDACO

In short

Act 51-2022, as amended, provides that every commercial establishment within Puerto Rico’s territorial limits shall cease the practice of handing out or using single-use plastics, and strictly prohibits their wholesale or retail sale. The law defines “single-use plastic” as the plastic article sold and used voluntarily, such as plastic cutlery, plates and straws, as well as cups, mugs and food containers made of expanded polystyrene for immediate consumption or for taking away any kind of unprocessed or processed food. But that same Article 4 establishes a moratorium on those prohibitions and on Article 6’s penalties until December 31, 2026, applying retroactively from the law’s effective date, and provides that those prohibitions and penalties shall enter into force on January 1, 2027. Excluded are the plastic needed to pack meat where by its composition no more-than-single-use plastic alternative exists, and pharmacies, laboratories, hospitals and other public or private institutions where federal or Puerto Rico legislation or regulation restricts, conditions or prohibits the use of non-plastic materials. During emergencies declared by the Governor or by the President of the United States single-use plastics may be used, and the prohibition applies again once the emergency ends.

Article 4’s prohibitions and Article 6’s penalties are under moratorium until December 31, 2026 and enter into force on January 1, 2027. Check the date before acting.

External link

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What is it?

It is Puerto Rico’s single-use plastics law, and the first thing to know about it is when it bites. The prohibition is written and broad, but the law itself placed a moratorium on it: Article 4’s prohibitions and Article 6’s penalties do not apply until December 31, 2026 and enter into force on January 1, 2027. Anyone telling you today that a business is violating the law by giving you a straw is running the clock fast.

Who can do it?

The duty-bearer is every commercial establishment: the law defines that term as every premises, restaurant, store or analogous place and every natural or legal person carrying out any kind of commercial operation or act of trade involving the sale or delivery of single-use plastics, for immediate use, wholesale, retail or by the unit. That is, it reaches the restaurant as well as the distributor.

Requirements

  • That the product be a single-use plastic under the law’s definition: plastic cutlery, plates and straws, as well as cups, mugs and food containers made of expanded polystyrene for immediate consumption or for taking food away.Verified against the official source
  • That the duty-bearer be a commercial establishment under the law’s definition, within Puerto Rico’s territorial limits.Verified against the official source

Documents you need

Information pending verification.

Cost

This procedure has no cost.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Start with the date, not the prohibition

    Article 4’s final paragraph is what governs today: “A moratorium is established on the prohibitions and penalties provided in this Article and in Article 6 of this Act until December 31, 2026. This moratorium shall apply retroactively from the Act’s effective date… The prohibitions and penalties provided in this Article and in Article 6 shall enter into force on January 1, 2027.” The moratorium names two articles: 4 and 6.

  2. Step 2: What counts as single-use plastic

    The definition works by listing: plastic cutlery, plates and straws, as well as cups, mugs and food containers made of expanded polystyrene — what people call foam — for immediate consumption or for taking away any kind of unprocessed or processed food. Note that expanded polystyrene is tied to cups, mugs and containers, while cutlery, plates and straws appear as plastic without further qualification.

  3. Step 3: What is expressly outside

    Two exclusions in the text. First: the plastic needed to pack any kind of meat where, by its composition, no more-than-single-use plastic alternative exists to replace it. Second: pharmacies, laboratories, hospitals and any other institution and entities, public or private, that due to federal or Puerto Rico legislation or regulation have the use of non-plastic materials and the reuse of plastic products restricted, conditioned or prohibited in specific sanitary practices and activities.

  4. Step 4: And what is suspended in an emergency

    During emergency periods declared by the Governor of Puerto Rico or by the President of the United States, single-use plastics may be used, consistent with supplying the needs of businesses and consumers in that period. The prohibition applies again once the emergency ends.

  5. Step 5: The notice at the business and the education programme

    Article 5 orders the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and the Department of Consumer Affairs to run an education and outreach programme on the law, and provides that all commercial establishments located in Puerto Rico shall post informational notices for their consumers stating the law’s scope, with the content those entities set by regulation. That article is not among those the moratorium names; the moratorium refers to Article 4 and Article 6.

  6. Step 6: The fines, once they start running

    The DACO Secretary, through designated officials, shall issue the commercial establishment an administrative violation ticket of five hundred (500) dollars for the first infraction; one thousand (1,000) dollars for a second violation; and five thousand (5,000) dollars for each subsequent violation. The violator must pay the ticket within thirty (30) days, or request review within that same period; if unpaid, a monthly surcharge equal to ten percent (10%) of the fine imposed accrues. Amounts collected go to the General Fund and are later remitted to the University of Puerto Rico’s General Fund.

Where to do it

The Department of Consumer Affairs is who issues the administrative violation tickets, and together with the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources holds the regulatory mandate and the education programme. If your issue is recycling in a housing complex or disposing of electronic equipment, those have their own guides. For a consumer complaint other than under this law, the DACO complaint guide explains the process.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

First, again, because it is the most misread thing: as of this guide’s verification date the prohibition and the fines are under moratorium until December 31, 2026 and enter into force on January 1, 2027. A business that hands you a straw or a foam container today is not, by that fact alone, subject to Article 6’s ticket. Two more things about the text. First: subsection (c) of the definitions article is blank — the OGP compilation expressly notes “this subsection was approved blank” — so the definitions list we publish is the one the text carries, with that gap acknowledged. Second: the moratorium names Article 4 and Article 6, and does not mention Article 5; we say that and no more, because how the informational notice is enforced today is not resolved by the law’s text. What we did not read: the regulations Article 7 orders DRNA and DACO to adopt within sixty days, the amending act that introduced the moratorium, or any agreement of the Working Committee the law mentions. So we publish no required notice content, no ticket procedure, and we assert nothing about new deadlines or conditions that Committee may have set.

Common mistakes

  • Treating the prohibition as in force: it is under moratorium until December 31, 2026.
  • Thinking the moratorium repealed the law: the law stands; what is suspended are Article 4’s prohibitions and Article 6’s penalties.
  • Believing it covers all plastic: the definition works by listing and ties expanded polystyrene to cups, mugs and containers.
  • Ignoring the meat exclusion and the pharmacy, laboratory and hospital exclusion.
  • Forgetting that during a declared emergency they may be used, and the prohibition returns when it ends.
  • Assuming the ticket is a single fine: it is $500, then $1,000, then $5,000 for each subsequent violation.

Frequently asked questions

Is handing out straws and foam plates already prohibited?

The prohibition is written in the law, but Article 4 itself establishes a moratorium on those prohibitions and on Article 6’s penalties until December 31, 2026, and provides that they shall enter into force on January 1, 2027.

Which products does it cover exactly?

The law defines single-use plastic as the plastic article sold and used voluntarily, such as plastic cutlery, plates and straws, as well as cups, mugs and food containers made of expanded polystyrene for immediate consumption or for taking away any kind of unprocessed or processed food.

Are hospitals and pharmacies included?

Expressly excluded are pharmacies, laboratories, hospitals and any other institution and entities, public or private, that due to federal or Puerto Rico legislation or regulation have the use of non-plastic materials and the reuse of plastic products restricted, conditioned or prohibited in specific sanitary practices and activities.

How much are the fines?

Five hundred (500) dollars for the first infraction, one thousand (1,000) for the second and five thousand (5,000) for each subsequent violation, with thirty (30) days to pay or request review and a ten percent (10%) monthly surcharge if unpaid. These penalties enter into force on January 1, 2027.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

August 24, 2026

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