Chile enacts historic ban on plastic bags

Chile made history on Friday when it became the first country in South America to ban the commercial use of plastic bags."I want to share with you the joy that as of today we're enacting the law," said President Sebastian Pinera at a public ceremony in the centre of Santiago, after which he handed out cloth bags to passers-by.Large businesses have six months to phase out the use of plastic bags, while smaller ones will be given two years to adopt the new rules.