Richmond bans single-use plastic items

As of Sunday, most single-use plastic items will be banned in Richmond in an effort to reduce waste.

Items such as plastic checkout bags, plastic straws, and foam food ware will be prohibited in Richmond businesses as part of the ban.

According to the city, about 35 million foam food service containers, plastic straws, and plastic checkout bags are collected from garbage in Richmond every year, nearly 660 tonnes of waste.

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Malcolm Brodie, the mayor of Richmond says the step to move away from single-use items is in an effort to become a more sustainable community.

“We’re trying to move towards a more circular economy. So things are used for their lifespan and they’re repurposed, there’s lots of reasons to enact this ban.”

Richmond’s new policy is similar to that of Vancouver, which has recently implemented restrictions and fees on single-use items.

These local moves to sustainability come after the federal government pushed for Canada to produce less waste, particularly plastic waste.

While the ban comes into effect March 27, actual enforcement of the bylaw will start in September 2022.

“Frankly, it feels good that the ban seems to have popular support. We’re not wanting to introduce draconian measures, I think residents are quite used to the fact they’ll go to the store and bring their own reusable bags. The main thing is we’re keeping 35 million of these items are the majority of these items out of the landfill each year. And I think that that’s a good thing for all of us.”