Considered the most problematic single-use plastics in the city, plastic bags, plastic straws and Styrofoam containers will be banned beginning Jan. 1 if a committee of the whole decision is ratified at the end of the month.
Committee members unanimously approved the ban during its Monday meeting and agreed additional community consultation is needed before new fees are applied on items such as disposable coffee cups and reusable shopping bags.
“When it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do,” Mayor Cam Guthrie said of the ban on single-use plastics. “There just seems to be a lot of community response, positively, to this issue.
“We have been talking about this since 2018.”
City council will formally consider approving the ban, as well as other aspects of a new proposed Solid Waste Master Plan, during its meeting on April 25.
A staff recommendation proposed the ban come into effect next March, but questioned by Coun. Dominique O’Rourke, city staff noted business previously indicated six months would be enough time to prepare. With that in mind, Guthrie sought the middle ground in proposing the timeline be set at Jan. 1.
The federal government previously announced plans to ban single-use plastics but no legislation has been introduced to that effect. Jennifer Rose, the city’s general manager of environmental services, said those regulations are expected to come before the end of the year.
Items included in the city ban were included in federal consultations with municipalities, she added, noting federal legislation overrides city bylaws.
If ultimately approved by council, a 25-cent fee on disposable coffee cups is to be implemented in March of 2024, along with requiring businesses to charge at least $1 per reusable shopping bag sold.
Rose explained the city is prohibited by the Municipal Act from collecting the fees. Rather, businesses will be “strongly encouraged” to spend that money toward environmental initiatives including any new equipment, such as an industrial dishwasher, to promote multi-use items.
“It’s up to the businesses to decide what they want to do with these fees,” said Rose.
The staff recommendation made no mention of additional consultation ahead of the fees being implemented, but council unanimously amended the motion to include that direction.
Coun. Mark MacKinnon proposed upping the disposable coffee cup charge to $1 per cup, but that amendment failed in an 8-5 vote. “Let’s penalize heavily the behavour we want to decentivize,” said MacKinnon, whose proposal was supported by councillors James Gordon, Rodrigo Goller, Cathy Downer and Bob Bell.
