Time to toss single-use plastic bags in Edmonton, group says

A group of Edmontoniansis pushing city council to reduce the number of single-use plastic bags in the city.

"So oftenwe really don't need these things," said MelissaGorrie,who is withWaste Free Edmonton, agroup trying to eliminatesingle-use items like plastic bags and straws.

"If we can find better, more sustainable substitutes, we would be better off without it," she said.

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More than 6,000 people have signed a petition supporting the group's push as of Thursday.

Coun. Ben Henderson plans to askadministration to review plastic bagswhen areport on Extended Producers Responsibility recycling programs comes to council in June.

Such programs make the producer of the plastic pay the cost ofrecycling.

"I'm hoping the taste will be there to do more than what we're doing right now," he said.

Tenyears ago, council rejected placing a ban or surcharge on plastic bags,decidingit would be too difficult for consumers andretailers to stop using the bags.

But things are different now, Henderson said.

"Unlike where we were at in 2008, there are other municipalities that have gone down different roads on this issue. I think everyone recognizes that minimizing single-use plastic bags is in everyone's interest."

Fort McMurray has had a plastic bag ban in place for nine years. Montreal and Saskatoon have also recently brought in a ban.

Environmental impact

Studies show plastic bags and other single-use plastic items are polluting the environment and harming wildlife.

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Aplastic bag ban or a surcharge would encourage Edmontonians to consider the environmental impact of a single-use plastic item,Gorriesaid.

"We've become such a disposable society and such a plastic-focused society," Gorrie said. "There just needs to be a little bit more reframing."