Vancouver Styrofoam container ban goes into effect

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Take-out is about to look a little different around Vancouver, as the city’s Styrofoam container ban goes into effect Wednesday.

Single-use Styrofoam cups or containers will have to be swamped out for more environmentally-friendly options.

The foam ban is just one of many steps of the City of Vancouver’s zero-waste goal by 2040.

A ban on plastic and compostable plastic straws goes into effect April 22, but vendors will still have to provide bendable straws, when asked for, to meet accessibility requirements. Bubble tea businesses have been given a one-year exemption to the straw ban.

Also in April, single-use utensils will only be given out when requested.

Come Jan. 1, 2021 plastic and compostable plastic shopping bags will be prohibited. Retailers can still provide paper bags, but they must contain at least 40 per cent recycled content.

Shoppers will be charged a fee of 15 cents for each paper bag in the first year, then 25 cents a bag after that. The fees for reusable bags will be $1 in 2021 and $2 beginning the next year.

With files from THE CANADIAN PRESS

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