Could plastic bags and plastic straws become a thing of the past in the Royal City? One city councillor sure hopes so.
Coun. Lorrie Williams is concerned that plastic bags and straws aren’t biodegradable, and end up in landfills and waterways. She originally put forward a motion recommending the city ban the sale and use of single-use plastic bags and straws by 2019, but amended it to have staff report back on the issue of banning single-use plastic bags and straws.
“I was quite moved by the fact that Victoria had done the same thing,” Williams said. “They are being taken to court and challenged by the plastic people.”
Williams said her motion isn’t an attempt to ban all plastic bags.
“What I am truly attempting to do is cut down on the use of unnecessary plastic bags,” she said. “Those are the ones that end up in the landfills and are floating around and looking like jellyfish and getting into the stomachs of wildlife.”
Williams said she’d like the city to also seek input from the business community about how to best implement a ban on the items.
“I am hoping the whole of Metro Vancouver will come onside. I think with this, if it’s a regional thing it will have much more of an impact,” she said.
While she was concerned about the original motion to ban single-use plastic bags and straws in 2019, Coun. Marry Trentadue supported the amended motion to have staff look into the issue.
“I really want to have a better understanding of how it impacts the community and also what other jurisdictions have done and if they have had challenges or where it has worked,” she said. “I would like to see more work done behind this before we are able to move it forward.”
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said the city needs to keep a close eye on the challenge against Victoria’s bylaw, and Metro Vancouver’s efforts to tackle single-use items.
“I think the spirit of trying to deal with single-use products is something that we as municipalities need to deal with,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “I think it’s important that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel on this one. Metro Vancouver is actually dedicating a significant amount of time to working over the next year on single-use products, and I think we need to combine our work with those efforts. I think, in the end, Metro Vancouver may have recommendations for the region as a whole, but they may also be in a situation where some municipalities have different views.”
Earlier this month, Metro Vancouver’s sewerage and drainage district considered a motion to consult about the region’s single-use item reduction strategy. Items that have been identified as targets for waste reduction include disposable cups, take-out containers and plastic shopping bags.
A report to the region’s Zero Waste Committee stated that further research is needed to assess which regional actions are most effective to reduce waste from single-use items. Metro Vancouver staff will be reviewing approaches in other jurisdictions, exploring the technical feasibility and legal authority of implementing various actions, and evaluating economic, environmental and social impact of potential actions.
According to the report, Metro Vancouver is proposing to conduct additional research and engagement with cities in the region in the first half of 2018 and broader consultation with other stakeholders in the second half of the year. Staff expect to report back to the Metro Vancouver board on a regional strategy in late 2018 or early 2019.
