British Columbia Introduces Fresh Laws to Restrict Use of Single-Use Plastics

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The province of British Columbia has proposed to draft a new regulation that would limit use of single-use plastics. This is part of the province’s efforts to curb plastic waste and pollution.

The new regulation proposed by the province allows local governments to ban single-use plastic products without wanting the approval of the provincial government. It plans to bylaws by various municipalities including Richmond, Victoria, Saanich, Tofino and Ucluelet, which in turn will lead to implementation of bans in those communities. The province aims to clear other bylaws as and when they are submitted.

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The province announced plans to expand the residential recycling programs by including more categories of single-use products. In addition, additional recycling programs will be introduced for materials such as mattresses and electric-vehicle batteries. The Ministry is introducing deposit amount of not less than 10 cents on all beverage containers. In addition, it aims to add milk and milk-alternative containers to the deposit refund system for the first time.

George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy stated that the series of actions are reflective of the government’s commitment to prevent serious damage caused by plastics to the environment.