The price of forgetting to bring your reusable bags with you to the grocery store is getting a bit more expensive beginning Monday.
B.C.’s latest single-use plastic regulations come into effect Monday, July 15, which means all plastic shopping bags will be banned from being offered at stores across the province.
Oxo-degradable plastic packaging and other single-use items will also not be allowed to be sold in B.C.
“These changes will keep harmful waste out of landfills and will reduce oxo-degradable plastics, which contain chemicals that cause break down into microplastics and pollute the environment,” the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change said in a release Monday.
Retailers will now charge at least 25 cents per paper shopping bag, and at least $2 for a reusable bag. Bags in stores that are fruits, vegetables, bulk foods, and meats, are exempt from the regulation changes.
The changes come as the Canadian government decided to phase out single-use plastic shopping bags as of December last year, with B.C. banning plastic utensils and other pre-packaged food service items at the same time.
“These changes are the next step in Single-Use and Plastic Waste Prevention Regulation announced in July 2023, which limits the use of plastic shopping bags, disposable food-service accessories, oxo-degradable plastics, and food-service packaging made of polystyrene foam, PVC, PVDC, compostable and biodegradable plastics,” the Ministry said.
The government estimates that more than 340,000 tonnes of plastic items and packages were thrown out in B.C. in 2019. “This equates to more than 65 kilograms of plastic waste per person sent to the landfill in one year,” it added.