Plastic bag taboo in Canada
What other familiar items made of plastic will be banned in the near future?
Plastic cocktail straws, stir sticks and disposable cutlery will soon be added to the list of "banned" items: a federal regulation banning the use of disposable plastic is due to be finalized by the end of this year.
"No" bags!
But somewhere along the way, the city of Prince Albert in Saskatchewan is getting ahead of the feds with a ban on retail sales of plastic bags as of Oct. 12. At Monday's meeting, Prince Albert City Council approved a three-month phase-in period, which is needed to completely phase out plastic containers.
City officials hope shoppers will use their own reusable bags from now on, but allow retailers to keep paper bags for sale.
Statistics show that in Prince Albert alone, where the population is just over 34,000, stores distribute at least 3 million plastic bags a year, many of which end up in landfills or are simply dumped on the streets.
"There's an unhealthy cult of plastic waste destruction in our country," said Mayor Greg Dionne, "and I'm glad we're going back to banning plastic containers.
The ban was originally set to begin in August 2020, but was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Back in 2019, city officials conducted an online survey on how much plastic bags should be banned. And 75% of respondents were in favour.
Safeway has already switched to reusable and paper bags, while other local companies said they are only still considering the change.
During the council's discussion of the issue, it was noted that retailers should now not start making money from paper or reusable bags to cover the loss of plastic.
The Prince Albert City Council hopes that the ban they already have in place will encourage other municipalities to follow suit.
