Plastic shopping bags, straws, stir sticks, and polystyrene foam containers could soon go the way of the dinosaurs in Port Moody.
March 23, city council passed the first two readings of a new bylaw that will ban businesses in the city from using single-use plastics. Final adoption is expected in late April, with approval from the province to come a short time later.
The ban is set to take effect April 22, 2022, which also happens to be Earth Day.
To help ease the transition for businesses and bring residents up to speed, the city will budget $10,000 for an information campaign.
Coun. Diana Dilworth said a year should be plenty of time for local businesses to move away from plastics as they are “already working towards this goal.”
The ban would be a first for the Tri-Cities, but several communities around the province, like Cumberland, Squamish, and Salmon Arm, have already enacted similar prohibitions. Vancouver’s ban on plastic shopping bags, as well as foam cups and take-out containers, is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
In a report to council, Port Moody’s corporate planning advisor, Ian Smedley, recommended a further opportunity for businesses to chime in on the proposed ban before the bylaw is given third reading.
In the city’s previous consultation with residents and businesses about a possible ban of single-use plastics, 65% of responses from restaurant, food and beverage establishments said they had “no concern.”
Of those that did, some said replacing plastics with alternate items would be too expensive or increase the burden on their limited storage space.
Port Moody’s bylaw would also require businesses to provide paper checkout bags at a cost of 15 cents each, or $1 for a reusable bag.
In his report, Smedley said if such fees aren’t imposed, the overall amount of waste won’t be reduced; instead, it will just come from somewhere else. He said Port Moody’s fee is “in line” with other cities in Metro Vancouver that have imposed a fee for bags other than plastic.
According to the draft bylaw, if a business violates the ban, it could be fined up to $10,000.
