District of Squamish adopts bylaw to regulate single-use items beginning with checkout bags and straws

District of Squamish Council adopted a new bylaw on Tuesday to significantly reduce products and packaging that are disposed of after a single use. The new Single-Use Items Reduction Bylaw regulates the distribution of single-use items in Squamish beginning with checkout bags and straws in order to reduce the environmental and financial impacts of these items in our community.

“Producing plastic items for a short-lived, single use in the name of convenience is an environmental nightmare and yet this practice has been widely accepted in our daily lives until recently,” says District of Squamish Mayor Karen Elliott. “The intention of this bylaw is to motivate a shift in behaviour – for citizens to refuse single-use items and adopt a habit of carrying reusable alternatives, and for businesses to lead in reducing waste. This is an important step towards our ultimate goal of eliminating most single-use items in our community.”

Reducing the use and presence of single-use items in both the recycling and waste streams helps to: reduce littering and pollution from plastics waste; reduce consumer demand with the goal of ultimately decreasing production; motivate businesses to seek out sustainable alternatives; and ultimately lower greenhouse gas emissions resulting from both production and degradation of plastics in the environment.

Some single use plastics are marketed as being recyclable or compostable, but which either cannot be recycled (such as straws), or result in contaminating organics loads (such as lids, bags, or containers). The bylaw therefore prohibits “biodegradable” or “compostable” plastic bags and straws as these items cannot be composted or recycled. Overall, plastics from both residences and commercial businesses account for an approximate 9.5 percent of waste currently sent to the Squamish Landfill.  

Bags:

While many have already adopted such a practice, under the bylaw, all Squamish businesses are now required to ask customers whether a bag is needed at the time of purchase. If a checkout bag is provided, it must be sold to the customer according to an escalating fee schedule of (minimum) $0.10 per plastic bag, $0.30 per paper bag and $1.10 per reusable bag (commonly sold at grocery stores). After 90 days, these fees will increase to (minimum) $0.25, $0.75 and $2.75 respectively. The cost scale reflects the greenhouse gas emissions impact of each bag type (considering bag manufacturing and transportation).

Exemptions to the bylaw include the provision of plastic or paper bags to package the following items:

• Loose bulk items (such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grain or candy);
• Loose small hardware items such as nails and bolts;
• Frozen foods such as meat, poultry or fish, whether pre-packaged or not;
• Flowers or potted plants;
• Prepared foods or bakery goods that are not pre-packaged;
• Prescription drugs received from a pharmacy;
• Clothing after professional laundering or dry cleaning.

Straws:

The bylaw also targets plastic straws and challenges businesses to adopt an alternative, and consumers to modify their reliance on disposable straws. Plastic single-use straws will always be made available to those who require them for health, medical or disability reasons. In this case, when any customer requests it, a plastic, bendable straw must be provided by the business. 

This bylaw is a step towards regulating all single use items, which will eventually include such items as take-out containers, cups and Styrofoam containers.

What residents can do:

• Reuse or repurpose items that you already have before purchasing new reusable items;
• Adopt the habit of bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, shopping mall, market and all other shopping destinations;
• Adopt the habit of carrying a portable convenience kit including a beverage cup, straw and cutlery;
• Keep a stash of reusable bags in the car, or in your bike bag;
• Choose to eat in at restaurants instead of getting take-out food in containers and bags.

If you must take a checkout bag:

• Reuse the bag multiple times for home use such as garbage or keeping food fresh;
• Reuse paper bags to line organics bins or to wrap and freeze food waste until collection day;
• Recycle paper bags in the blue tote;
• Drop off unused plastic bags for recycling at the GFL Recycle Depot or Squamish Landfill.

In the coming weeks, District staff will work with highly impacted businesses and will launch a public education campaign to inform citizens about the bylaw and motivate a shift in choices and actions. All businesses will be provided with a toolkit that will include till toppers, posters, decals and tip sheets with best practices and information on how to integrate the bylaw regulations into their current operations. For more information and to view our Frequently Asked Questions visit squamish.ca/reduce-single-use. 

December 18, 2019