By Cheryl Jahn

Plastics ban in effect

Dec 22, 2023 | 3:16 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It has been a hot topic for a lot of years, single-use plastics. The push was heavy at first but fell off the table with the pandemic, when the use of recyclable bags was prohibited. However, effective as of now single use plastics are banned with the first being plastic utensils. That includes spoons, forks, knives, chopsticks, stir sticks and drink splash plugs.

The problem from a chemical engineering perspective is that plastics, not just single-use plastics are everywhere and they are not healthy. Micro-plastics are now being studied for there harmful effects on plants, animals and people, but even larger plastics can lead to environmental issues.

“A piece of plastic could choke an animal. It could die,” says June Garcia, School of Engineering at UNBC. “Or it could start covering certain surfaces. And anything that was living underneath it now goes anaerobic (without oxygen) or you changed a microbiota that was associated there.”

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Restaurant have been preparing for this day for a long time, but timing the ban to the holiday season puts stress on the businesses. Restaurants need to train their staff on new procedures.

It just adds to the cost of doing business for an industry that is already struggling under high food costs, inflation, and more.

“Our costs increase in restaurants are probably up almost 20% this year. But what we call menu inflation, which is our ability to raise prices, is about seven or eight percent.”

Ian Tostenson, President of the BCRFA.