New plastic ban takes effect Jan. 1 in Vancouver
Vancouver is clamping down further on plastic and container waste. On Jan. 1, new rules go into effect to ban plastic shopping bags, along with new fees to cut down on trash.
Tonnes of plastics and other waste wash up along British Columbia shores every year. In 2018, the City of Vancouver reported about 89 million plastic shopping bags discarded, along with 80 million single use cups.
"As a coastal city, it's important to Vancouver to reduce the amount of plastic pollution," said Monica Kosmak, City of Vancouver senior project manager for the single-use reduction strategy.
No more plastic shopping bags. If you want a paper one, it has to be made of at least 40 per cent recycled content and you'll have to pay a 15-cent fee, rising to 25 cents in 2023.
A minimum 25-cent fee will apply for each single-use beverage cup. Consumers who buy a reusable shopping bag will have to pay a $1 fee, which increases to $2 in 2023.
"I think what we see with the issue of plastic pollution is that it's close to home for people and it's something they can take action on," said Kosmak.
Consumers are already conditioned to think about cutting down waste and reducing garbage. Plastic straws are banned and food vendors are banned from serving prepared food in foam cups and foam take-out containers such as plates, bowls, trays, cartons, and hinged or lidded containers. If consumers want single-use utensils, they have to ask for them.
Vancouver made the bylaw changes under its own charter.
In addition, the province has cleared the way for other municipalities to enact laws to reduce plastic and single-use waste. More than 20 municipalities are already developing bylaws to do that.
CTV News spoke to several consumers about the new rules and no one objected.
One woman we spoke with is quite disgusted with all the packaging she sees in stores.
"It's just unbelievable. Everything's in plastic but they won't give you the plastic bag to put the plastic in. Ban it all," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.