Advertisement

Residents, retailers welcome new motion to ban plastic bags in Regina

Click to play video: 'Residents, retailers welcome new motion to ban plastic bags in Regina'
Residents, retailers welcome new motion to ban plastic bags in Regina
WATCH: Regina city council unanimously approved a motion on Wednesday to ban plastic bags from retailers – May 29, 2020

Regina Ward 2 Coun. Bob Hawkins says the numbers paint a pretty convincing picture when it comes to banning plastic checkout bags.

“The public told us very clearly: 77 per cent of 10,000 people who were surveyed said they wanted to do this,” he said.

“Other cities are doing it. It was time.”

Hawkins introduced a motion at a city council meeting Wednesday, asking city administration to draft a new bylaw banning the bags.

It was unanimously approved by his fellow councillors.

“I haven’t received any pushback at all. I don’t think other councillors have, either,” Hawkins said of his initiative.

Story continues below advertisement

“This was something the public and retailers told us it was time to do.”

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The bylaw is currently being drafted by the city solicitor, and is expected to be finished and considered by council in July.

If Regina’s draft bylaw is approved, the Queen City will become the second municipality in Saskatchewan to ban plastic checkout bags. Justin Bukoski / Global News

Hawkins says the plan is to have the bylaw take effect one year after it is approved by council. He says the city will launch educational and awareness campaigns during that grace period.

“If there’s need for enforcement, there will first be warnings and it would only be as a last resort that bylaw enforcement officers would need to ticket and issue fines to retailers,” Hawkins added.

“But I don’t anticipate there to be any problems.”

Story continues below advertisement

Global News spoke to a number of retailers who echoed Hawkins’ sentiment.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Lakeview Fine Food said, “we support efforts by city council to reduce plastic waste and believe grocers have a responsibility to adapt”.

A spokesperson for Dad’s Organic Market said the store was already preparing for the transition.

“We’ve been encouraging customers to bring their own bags, although they can’t right now during the pandemic,” said Assistant Manager Nick Gottinger. “We give them extra points in our rewards program if they bring their own bags.”

Sobeys grocery stores, meanwhile, made the switch to paper bags earlier this year.

Hawkins said the initiative will support goals to make Regina a more “sustainable” city by 2050,

“In the world it’s getting more and more difficult to find places to get rid of plastic bags by way of disposal. We’re running out of ways to dispose them.”

A stipulation in his motion noted that any eventual bylaw will be suspended amid the current or future health emergencies.

Story continues below advertisement

The city says plastics, including checkout bags, make up one per cent of all waste at Regina landfills.

Click to play video: 'The widening push to single out single-use plastics'
The widening push to single out single-use plastics

Sponsored content

AdChoices