Single-use plastic ban could cause headaches for council, local businesses

PRINCE GEORGE — Last year, the City of Prince George dabbled with the idea of implementing a single-use plastic ban to follow in the footsteps of plans the City of Victoria were working on. It had been put on hold, however, last week’s announcement by the federal government could reopen the doors for those conversations.

On October 7, a single-use plastic ban for 2021 was announced by the Justin Trudeau government. It will include grocery bags, straws, cutlery, stir sticks, six-pack rings, and takeout containers. That plan was originally part of a campaign promise during the 2019 federal election. It is unclear if it will a policy, legislation, or other, and Murry Krause said that could cause some issues ahead of the ban for municipalities. However, he is confident it will happen one way or another.

“When we brought [the original motion] to council, it was the right thing to do but it was also trying to keep those kinds of things out of our landfill,” the city councilor explained.