BARRHEAD - The Town of Barrhead may join the list of an increasing number of Canadian municipalities who have instituted a ban on single-use plastics, most notably plastic shopping bags.
Councillors instructed administration during their Feb. 12 meeting to research what other communities have done in terms of banning plastics as well as present possible policy options at a future council meeting. Coun. Don Smith added the item to the agenda for discussion at the last minute.
“I am wondering if there is an appetite for this council to create a policy that would see the entire community delete singe-use plastics at the same time, rather than have businesses do it piecemeal on their own,” he said, noting any decision council made would be done in consultation with the business community.
Coun. Rod Klumph agreed with the concept but noted it would be difficult to ban all single-use plastics.
“Garbage bags are single-use, would they be banned?” he asked.
Mayor Dave McKenzie said he believed garbage bags would be exempt.
The federal Liberal government promised last June they’d seek to ban plastic versions of several products such as straws, take-out containers and grocery bags. The ban would happen under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which requires a scientific assessment of the problem first.
A draft version of the assessment was released on Jan. 30. It will be open to public comment until April 1.
In the accompanying media release, federal environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson stated that the government is on track to creating regulations banning several types of single-use products by 2021.
He added a list of banned items is still being worked out with the help of scientists and will be released in the coming months.
Although nothing has been confirmed, plastic shopping bags, straws, bottles and Styrofoam are expected to be on the list.
Smith added several municipalities in Canada already have a ban on certain single-use plastic products, specifically singling out the Town of Devon.
“Maybe that is something we want to do … to be proactive and do it sooner than the mandated time, thinking of the environment and going green,” he said.
In January, the Town of Devon banned single-use plastic bags, encouraging residents to use reusable cloth bags. In preparation for the bylaw, Devon residents were given two reusable bags featuring the work of local artists.
Several exemptions to the bylaw include plastic retail bags or packaging used to carry fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, bakery items, bulk food or hardware items and clothes that have been through a dry-cleaning service.
The sale of prepackaged single-use bags such as recycling or garbage bags and prepackaged items from distributors, are also exempt.
Penalties for violating the bylaw range from a warning for the first offence, $250 for a second offence, $500 for a third offence and $1,000 for all subsequent offences.
Coun. Ty Assaf agreed that it was better to take the lead rather than wait until the federal regulations come into force.
“I think this a great idea that should be initiated by the municipality, however, I think we need to take baby steps,” he said. “If we are going to do anything, perhaps we should start with the single-use shopping bag, especially until we see the [federal government’s list of the banned single-use plastic items] list.”
Assaf, McKenzie and Coun. Leslie Penny reiterated that one of the first steps in the process needs to be consultation with the business community, most notably the Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce.
Other jurisdictions that have enacted single-use plastic bans include Prince Edward Island, which implemented a plastic shopping bag ban July 1, 2019.
Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia are following PEI’s lead with a plastic shopping bag ban that comes into effect on July 1, while Nova Scotia businesses will give retailers a year to phase out plastic bags starting from Oct. 30, 2019. The Retail Council of Canada states that at least 48 communities have also instituted some sort of plastic shopping bag ban.
Several businesses have also instituted a version of a single-use plastic ban. Some of the more notable examples include Sobey’s that on Jan. 31 removed single-use plastic bags from all 255 Sobey’s stores across Canada — the company claims the move will take 225 million plastic grocery bags out of circulation yearly.
