Expect more single-use plastic rules in B.C. as of Wednesday

Your retail experience at B.C. shops and cafes will soon be a little different, as new single-use plastics rules are brought in this week.

Starting Wednesday, federal rules will mean businesses are banned from giving out, manufacturing, and importing for sale checkout bags, cutlery, food service ware, stir sticks, and straws, with some minor exceptions.

“Customers should expect to see no single-use-plastic bags or straws or utensils in stores — and that’s a country-wide change, so that’s all across Canada,” explained Greg Wilson, director of Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada.

And while cities like Vancouver and Victoria have already had their own rules in place, Wilson notes some B.C.-specific changes are also coming on Dec. 20, when the province is set to add another layer to the ban locally.

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The B.C. government says that, though food service providers will no longer be able to offer single-use plastic utensils, napkins, lids, and other items to customers.

“So, essentially, this means that either you’ll have to get them for yourself at a certain self-service station or you will have to ask for a lid or a straw or a utensil or a package of ketchup, for example,” Wilson told CityNews.

“Obviously, this is a transition, so we’re hopeful that people will be patient with staff who are also learning a new regime a few days before Christmas when many of them are having a very busy time.”

Sushi grass

In B.C., it’s not just straws and lids you’ll have to ask for as of Wednesday. If you’re a big consumer of sushi, you may notice the little piece of plastic grass will no longer be offered — but you can still request it.

“This plastic sushi grass — and I honestly don’t know what they’re going to do to replace it — it separates the wasabi from the actual sushi because some people don’t like their wasabi on sushi,” said Wilson. 

“The sushi grasses are a single-use accessory and it’s plastic so it’s banned, as are plastic drink umbrellas as of tomorrow in B.C. This is a this is a big change, in some cases. I expect that somebody will invent a piece of cardboard, the right size to fit between the wasabi and the sushi.”

Challenges

Businesses have been given some time to prepare for the new rules. For the most part, Wilson says many have already run out of things like single-use plastic bags and switched to paper or other alternatives.

But he says some of the challenges have been around inconsistencies across jurisdictions.

“And in addition, bylaws in various municipalities — and Vancouver and Victoria are excellent examples of this — they aren’t perfect matches to the federal or provincial laws. So what happens is, there are slight nuances of different … requirements in some municipalities. I have to give credit while we’re on that subject to the city of Delta, which repealed its single-use plastic bag bylaw effective Dec. 20, so that they didn’t have contrasting requirements,” Wilson explained.

Though he says members of the Retail Council are on board and “all looking forward to doing our part to reduce the amount of plastic,” the timing of the latest rules is also not ideal.

“Honestly, would you or I have picked Dec. 20 as a day to impact retail stores and restaurants with new laws? I think we would have said, ‘No, Christmas might not be the best time for us.’ But it’s happening and we’ve known a lot so hopefully it all works well,” he said. “It is a very busy season in retail but most retailers count on this period to make money.”