Municipal opposition party Ensemble Montreal says it wants Montreal to consider a ban on single-use plastic water bottles in city buildings and events.
“Montreal needs to set the example,” Coun. Francesco Miele said on Monday.
Ensemble Montreal says it will be putting forward a motion proposing the ban of all single-use plastic bottles that hold 500 millilitres of liquid or less.
If the motion is approved, municipal events as well as buildings like arenas and libraries wouldn’t sell them.
“That’s something easy to implement and we can do that fast,” Miele explained.
His proposal also asks the city to put in place a strategy within the next six months to cut down on the use of single-use plastics, such as coffee cup lids.
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“We need to be sensitive to this, we need to realize that it’s not all plastic… that it’s actually recyclable and diminish the amount that we actually use,” Miele said.
He says the ban would also reduce costs.
“It costs us when we actually send the waste to landfills, it costs to recycle,” Miele explained.
If the city passes the motion, Montreal wouldn’t exactly be breaking ground in Canada.
Vancouver recently adopted a new policy that bans Styrofoam cups, takeout containers and single-use plastic straws.
“I think there’s a worldwide conversation taking place now with respect to banning different types of plastic, and Canada is under a lot of international pressure to ban the use of straws for example,” said Alex Tyrrell, leader of the Green Party of Quebec.
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It’s a conversation Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to make a priority during the upcoming G7 meetings.
“I think that if this motion is adopted, it will send a really strong message that people want to see concrete action on reducing plastic and the time for action is now,” Tyrrell added.
The motion will be presented at Montreal City Council on Monday May 28.