A Maple Ridge councillor wants the city to get on board the plastic reduction bandwagon by asking for a staff report on how to cut down on such waste.
Coun. Bob Masse told council he’ll ask staff next week to report on how the city can do its part in cutting down on plastic waste.
He expects his colleagues will back the idea.
“There’s a whole range of different products that are really problematic. There are straws, grocery bags, there are fast-food associated plastics, Styrofoam, a lot of stuff that goes with that industry, that are the most problematic in terms of volume, and in terms of impact,” Masse said.
Recently, he dined out and was served without any straws provided, or any explanation for that.
“It’s amazing how much we use these things without even thinking about it,” he said.
“I’d like to get Pitt Meadows involved too … probably even Mission. I think the time is right, too. I think the public gets it.”
Staff would write a report, likely modeled on steps being taken in other cities.
But any strategy has to be done carefully and incrementally to ensure it works for business, Masse added.
“It’s something we need to do, only we’re going to do it kind of similar to what Vancouver’s doing, only we can skip of years of the legwork that’s already been done.”
He said that Vancouver has been working on a single-use plastic reduction strategy for two years. A ban on plastic straws comes into effect in June 2019, he pointed out.
In 2019 or 2020, Vancouver will also require stores and restaurants to either stop giving out free disposable cups or start charging for them.
That city also wants to reduce use of plastic and paper shopping bags, foam cups and take-out containers, disposable coffee and pop cups, take-out food containers and plastic straws and knives and forks.
When it comes to reducing the plastic, Masse said cutting back on plastic bags is the probably the first target.
After that, fast food packaging still looms.
Masse’s move was given as a notice of motion that also called on council to support the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society statement on reducing single use plastic products.
The society’s statement calls on the public to refuse plastic straws in restaurants and asks people to bring their own coffee cup or shopping bag instead of using plastic products.
Two summer students at the recycling depot are trying to minimize their plastic use for the entire month of July.