Edmonton to increase fee for paper and reusable bags

Forgetting your reusable bag at home will cost you a bit more money starting this summer.

On Monday, Edmonton’s utility committee decided to move forward with its single-use item bylaw.

When it was first introduced in 2023, plastic bags were banned but stores could offer paper bags for 15 cents or reusable ones for $1.

The plan was to increase the fee after one year.

City administration presented the committee with four options Monday: go ahead with that plan, delay the increase by a year, get rid of the fee altogether or increase certain fees but not others.

A unanimous vote means the fees will go from 15 cents per paper bag to 25 as of July 1.

The charge for a reusable bag will double from $1 to $2 on that day.

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Councillors heard that there is no hard data to show whether or not the fee is serving its intended purpose of cutting back on waste.

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Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell told Global News complaints to his office have dropped dramatically.

“I’m not keen on annoying people or making it inconvenient but if the ultimate outcome is that people don’t take a bag because they don’t like the fee … well then, it’s kind of mission accomplished,” Cartmell said.

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An online survey completed by 7,917 people provided the city with some insight on the impact of the fee.

“We’ve learned from the survey results that businesses have seen customers reducing and they’re reducing the product they’re using,” Alison Abbink, the City of Edmonton’s senior integrated waste policy planner, told Global News.

“Even a small amount of waste reduction is still quite encouraging this early in the game.”

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Survey respondents indicated they often bring a reusable bag to retail locations but not to food services.

The survey found that 38.7 per cent of respondents were definitely not likely to bring their own bag or avoid a bag at fast food places once fees increase, while 21.5 per cent said they were definitely likely to do so.

The city is working on a waste characterization study that is expected to provide more concrete information.

“That study is not just about single-use items, it’s all waste and how we can look, as a city, within our residents, to reduce waste within our community,” said the city’s waste services branch manager, Denis Jubinville.

That report is due back in 2025.