Vancouver city council has approved a ban on plastic straws, foam containers, and other single-use items.
Anyone with a Vancouver business licence will no longer be able to provide single-use plastic items to their customers, starting in June 2019.
The move comes as part of Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 Zero Waste 2040 strategy, which aims to eliminate all waste in the city.
91裸聊视频淭his problem is decades in the making,91裸聊视频� said Zero Waste project manager Monica Kosmack. 91裸聊视频淭he cheap fast and easy sense of freedom [enabled by single-use items] is at the heart of the grab-and-go culture.91裸聊视频�
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A staff report found that 2.6 million disposable cups and two million plastic bags are thrown out into city garbage bins each week. Cups and takeout containers alone make up half the trash in city garbage bins.
Neither straws nor polystyrene cups and containers can be collected in curbside multifamily containers, 91裸聊视频渟o foam is littered or is disposed of in the landfill,91裸聊视频� said Kosmack.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e heard from the public that the time is now and 86 per cent of Vancouver residents are in favour of a ban.91裸聊视频�
Another 82 per cent, she added, are willing to pay more for takeout containers if they were more sustainable.
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Coun. Elizabeth Ball asked staff to make sure there were exceptions for those who still needed straws, like the sick and disabled.
Affordability was a concern for Coun. Melissa De Genova.
91裸聊视频淣ot everyone can afford to be as green as they want to be,91裸聊视频� De Genova said.
Albert Shamess, director of waste management and resource recovery said the city was working on cutting costs for businesses.
91裸聊视频淭he city is working with [businesses] to develop a broad-based procurement approach for bulk costs,91裸聊视频� Shamess said.
91裸聊视频淏ut the approach we91裸聊视频檙e trying to take for this product is that it91裸聊视频檚 business responsibility to take care of it. Picking up litter is costing us a lot of money.91裸聊视频�
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