Plastic will cost you

Posted By COURTNEY WHALEN, THE PACKET AND TIMES

Posted 6 months ago

If customers want plastic, they're going to have to pay for it starting in 2010.

In a 5-4 recorded vote Monday night, city councillors approved a program where all retailers, fast food restaurants and convenience stores within the city will be required to charge five cents per single-use plastic bag.

"WMAC (waste management advisory committee), has been trying to deal with this issue for just over two years," committee chair Jeffrey Holec told councillors Monday afternoon.

The committee first started looking at ways to eliminate the single-use bags back in June 2007 at the request of Coun. Ralph Cipolla. Last November, a deposit/return system was proposed and council directed the committee to come up with an implementation plan and get public input. Holec said two meetings were held -- one for retailers and one for the general public -- but no one attended.

However, in light of what WMAC members observed happening in the retail sector, in May they voted to propose the five-cent charge on single-use plastic bags.

"The committee feels the issue has gotten way ahead of us," Holec said, noting many retailers offer customers alternatives to plastic bags and some have already started charging a five-cent fee for the plastic bags.

Among those who have already implemented a fee are Food Basics, Home Depot, Metro and No Frills (located in Severn Township).

A five-cent plastic bag program has been in place at Abernethy's Foodland for about three months, owner Paul Abernethy said yesterday.

Selena Fiacco, spokesperson for Metro said their Ontario and Quebec stores have been charging for bags since June 1, the same day a five cent bag charge for retailers became mandatory in Toronto.

"We're actually encouraging customers to use reusable alternatives," she said, noting the chain has a goal of reducing its plastic bag usage by 50% by the end of 2010, two years ahead of a similar goal put forward by the province of Ontario.

In the first month after the stores started charging for the bags, the company saw a 70% reduction in use, Fiacco said.

Coun. Paul Spears was one of four who voted against the program.

"I didn't think we should mandate it. I thought it should be voluntary," Spears said yesterday.

He pointed out a report from the public works department that warned bylaws imposing charges on plastic bags are fairly new and haven't yet been tested in a legal challenge.

Spears also sees potential problems with the five-cent charge per bag with stores offering different sizes of bags. Enforcement could also be an issue, he said.

Coun. Michael Fogarty called the move "heavy-handed" at Monday night's council meeting.

Holec didn't see enforcement as much of an issue, noting the public already seems to be taking the initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags.

"I think the big retail stores have started this and we just need to carry on," Mayor Ron Stevens said.

With the Orillia Square mall sitting just on the outskirts of the city, the program would be more effective if a similar program were run there, Holec said. Council agreed to discuss the initiative at a common interests committee meeting for the consideration of neighbouring municipalities.

City manager Ian Brown indicated it would likely take some time to draft a bylaw that would be strong and detailed enough to withstand any possible legal challenges, so council agreed to a Jan. 1, 2010 implementation date.