The plastic ban went into effect on January 1, 2019. I wrote about it for the Washington Post awhile ago, you can read the story here.

I was curious, though, after visiting several establishments, as to why they were still handing out plastic bags and straws. A couple of vendors told me the government was allowing them to finish their stock. According to NEPA, this is true. Here is their response to me when I queried on Twitter.

Indeed, they are allowing vendors to use the remaining plastic products. So it is more of a soft ban than a complete ban as of Jan. 1, 2019.