British Columbia Takes Action on Plastic Waste

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): On July 14, 2023, the Province of British Columbia published the Single-Use and Plastic Waste Prevention Regulation, which will come into effect on December 20, 2023. This regulation will lead to the phasing-out of oxo-degradable plastic packaging and products,shopping bags,and food service ware and accessories in British Columbia.

The publication of this regulation ends a multi-year consultation process pursuant to the CleanBC Action Plan, which launched in 2019.

Business operatorsand food service providers can expect significant changes when this regulation comes into effect in December, including:

• A prohibition on the sale or distribution of packaging or single-use products that are composed of oxo-degradable plastics.
• A prohibition on the sale or distribution of plastic shopping bags, unless the business owner charges a fee and the bags are made of recycled paper or are reusable.
• A prohibition on single-use plastic utensils.
• A restriction on the sale or distribution of food or beverages in food service ware composed of certain prohibited plastics, including biodegradable and compostable plastics.
• A restriction on the sale or distribution of single-use food service accessories by food service providers.
• Recordkeeping requirements regarding:
• The sale of recycled paper and reusable bags by large business operators.
• The provision of food service accessories by food delivery platform operators.

These measures are subject to very limited exemptions. They follow many recent BC municipal bylaws targeting single use plastics and are intended to complement recent federal measures on single-use items, to promote reusable alternatives, and to eliminate the use of some items.

Courtesy: www.lexology.com