The UK's Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is preparing to legislate plastic bags. Although UK retailers voluntarily agreed in 2008 to do their part to reduce their use, plastic bag consumption has risen during that time. In contrast, both Ireland and Wales legislate plastic bags, forcing a fee on consumers, and their use has dropped significantly. Read more inusiness Green .
NDP MLA for London-Fanshawe, Irene Mathyssen, will be putting forth a private members bill today that seeks to ban single-use plastic bags across Canada. Canada takes home over 55 million plastic bags each week, 75% of which end up in landfills. Read more in CTV News.
Alberta's pledge to reduce plastic bag consumption has the support of retailers in the province who plan to offer incentives to encourage consumers to use reusable bags. Read the full story in CBC News.
Manitoba's "Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Regulation" includes the "Guideline for Plastic Bags", and establishes a target to decrease single use bags by 50% within the next 5 years. In the spring of 2010, Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM) will release a new mandatory industry program to target packaging, printed paper, and plastic bags. New options for reducing the plastic bag use are still being explored. Read the full details here.
Styrofoam has an enormous environmental cost. Its low scrap value makes it expensive to recycle, and it often ends up being tossed into the ocean. It is the most common form of marine pollution, and costs governments millions of dollars in clean-up. Environmentalists say that the only solution is to reduce our dependence on Styrofoam. Read the full article at Dose.
Across Canada, municiplaities and businesses are making efforts to reduse the use of plastic bags. Several grocery stores across the country have started charging 5 cents per bag as an incentive to bring your own, BC recently distributed free reusable cloth bags at their stores and in June 2009, Toronto will be the first major municipality to implement a by-law banning plastic bags. Read more here.
Toronto is currently devising a waste reduction plan that targets more than just plastic bottles. Also on the list are disposable coffee cups, polysyream food containers and plastic bags. The city is considering introducing a combination of measures including, a ban on some forms of packaging, a tax on plastic bags, and the indroducition of deposits on items such as batteries. The city intends to divert 70% of the city's waste from the landfill by 2010. Read more here.
Seattle City Council has voted to impose a 20 cent fee on paper and plastic bags in all grocery, drug, and convenience stores, beginning January 1, 2009. The city has also decided to ban plastic foam food and drink containers.
In 2004, the City of Fremantle, Australia (population 26,000) adopted a strategy aimed at drastically reducing the use of plastic bags, which the city has made available on its website. The Strategy to Achieve a Plastic Bag Free City includes a timeline, tools to achieve its goals (ie. education programs, reusable bag alternatives, branding of the campaign), plan of action, and budget.
This article, originally published in the Columbia Institute's June 2008 publication Innovative Strategies, details how Leaf Rapids, Manitoba became the first municipality in North America to ban plastic bags.
For more information on the Innovative Strategies publication, click here.
