Vancouver city council to debate motion to trash controversial single-use cup fee

Vancouver City Council is set to debate its controversial 25-cent fee on single-use cups Wednesday.

The bylaw was implemented in January 2022 in an effort to reduce waste, but some councillors argue the policy is flawed.

The motion was first introduced Tuesday, but was referred to the following day to give council more time to hear from speakers, debate and ultimately reach a decision.

The fee requires businesses to charge 25 cents for throw-away cups.

This includes restaurants, theatres, and stadiums.

The bylaw was intended to encourage people to bring reusable cups and help cut down on waste.

However, the city cannot legally collect the fee under the Vancouver Charter.

As a result, businesses are the main beneficiaries, and there are no requirements for how that money is spent.

Retailers also don’t have to offer alternatives like cup-share programs.

The motion to toss the fee is being brought forward by ABC councillor Rebecca Bligh.

“This fee is a nuisance. And even people who are quite climate aware and supportive say ‘Yeah, get rid of the fee. It's not working. We want better policy,’” Bligh told CTV News.

She argues that the bylaw has had little impact on consumer behaviour.

Bligh says the original intent of the fee was for businesses to use the money to operate internal programs and policies for reducing garbage.

“But again, we're not seeing that uptake in our businesses—thousands of businesses where this cup fee applies. So we don't know where that revenue is going,” said Bligh.

This is the second time Bligh has moved to trash the bylaw, but this time she’s backed by an ABC Party majority on council, raising her chances of success.

Green Party councillor Pete Fry voted in favour of the original bylaw.

He says scrapping it would be a big step backward, arguing that the city pays a significant amount to dispose of cups, which ultimately costs taxpayers.

“What a missed opportunity it is, and where the money is going to actually come from to pay for all these single-use disposable items is from our pockets. Either paying at the till, or paying at the tax bill—we’re still paying for all these single-use items.”

According to the latest city data, 80 million single-use cups ended up in the landfill in 2018 alone.

If council does vote to remove the bylaw, it would be scrapped as soon as possible, but no later than June.