A St. Albert councillor says she’s excited about Edmonton’s proposal to ban plastic bags and other single-use items.
The City of Edmonton published its draft plan to reduce single-use items Nov. 25. The plan is part of the city’s efforts to divert 90 per cent of its waste from the landfill.
The draft reports that Edmonton sends some 450 million single-use items to the dump each year, including 91 million cups, 92 million plastic shopping bags, and 105 million takeout containers. Single-use items made up 42 per cent of the large items recovered during a 2019 litter audit in Edmonton.
The draft proposes new rules for plastic and non-plastic single-use items, particularly shopping bags, utensils, straws, and cups.
Under the draft rules, Edmonton businesses would be banned from offering plastic shopping bags, plastic straws, and Styrofoam cups and containers. Styrofoam would still be allowed for packaging uncooked food, and flexible plastic straws would be allowed on request for those who need them to safely drink or eat.
The draft would require businesses to charge at least $0.15 per paper bag and $1 per reusable one offered. Single-use cups would carry at least a $0.25 fee.
The draft would require companies to only offer single-use utensils on request and encourage them to do the same for cup-sleeves, napkins, and stir-sticks. It would encourage companies to accept and use reusable cups and containers.
Sean Stepchuk of Waste Free Edmonton said some of the policy’s steps are no-brainers, such as the ban on giving out utensils automatically (as said ban would save companies money). The policy uses bans on the worst waste offenders, such as Styrofoam, and mandatory fees for others to discourage waste-by-substitution — there’s no point in banning plastic bags if people buy 50 reusable ones in response.
“Every item we use has an environmental footprint,” Stepchuk said.
“That’s why we strongly advocate for reuse.”
Stepchuk said the Edmonton region will likely see an immediate reduction in waste if other governments adopt this strategy.
St. Albert’s single-use item reduction strategy was supposed to roll out in April 2020 but is on hold due to the pandemic, city spokesperson Cory Sinclair said in an email. The city wants to study the effects of the federal government’s upcoming ban on single-use plastic items and the province’s extended producer responsibility framework before it implements its strategy.
In an email, St. Albert Coun. Natalie Joly said she is excited about Edmonton’s single-use item plan and looks forward to seeing its final version.
“In 2018 when I proposed looking into single-use waste reduction policies, I received a reassuring wave of messages supporting action in this area, so I know waste reduction is important to St. Albert residents.”
The City of Edmonton is now consulting residents on its draft plan, with the aim to have it in operation by 2023. Visit bit.ly/3I38uRa for details.
