BC Government Seeks YOUR Feedback on Plastics Action Plan
The BC Government is currently seeking feedback on new policy opportunities and proposed Recycling Regulation amendments to address plastic waste (see July 25, 2019 Media Release). (Go directly to survey…)
The four action areas the BC government is proposing in their Plastics Action Plan: Policy Consultation Paper include:
- Bans on Single-Use Packaging:
Determining which types of plastic packaging to phase out altogether, as well as any necessary exemptions, such as those for health, safety and accessibility to keep products available
for the people that need them. - Dramatically Reduce Single-Use Plastics in Landfills and Waterways:
Requiring producers to take responsibility for more plastic products, ensuring more single-use items like sandwich bags, straws and cutlery get recycled. - Plastic Bottle and Beverage Container Returns:
Expanding the deposit-refund system to cover all beverage containers – including milk and milk-substitutes – with a 10-cent refundable deposit, keeping millions more containers out of landfills and waterways. - Reducing Plastics Overall:
Supporting effective ways to prevent plastic waste in the first place and ensuring recycled plastic is re-used effectively
One of the intentions is to create programs that cover many different types of single-use plastic that may not be covered in a future federal plastics ban. It is also a response to the recent BC Supreme Court ruling against the plastic bag ban brought in by the City of Victoria: “The Province is currently reviewing all aspects of the decision and recognizes that local governments need clarity on what their authorities are and the process for acting on those authorities…”
BC also wants to work with the federal government to develop “national recycled content standards to ensure that…any new plastics and packaging produced contain recycled plastic.” This is good news and would provide both a market and a demand for recycled plastic.
Check out more information on the Clean BC website, then complete the public survey by September 18, 2019 at https://cleanbc.gov.bc.ca/plastics