Fees for reusable, paper bags won't go up on P.E.I. in new year

P.E.I. government officials sayfees for reusable andpaper bagswill not go up in January as originally planned.

The mandatoryminimum fee will remain at 15 cents for paper and $1 for reusable bags.

Environment Minister Brad Trivers says support from the public and the business community has been so effective that the proposed fee increase will not go ahead.

"The decrease in the use of plastic bags was so effectivewe realized we didn't have to," Trivers said.

"People were bringing their own reusable checkout bags. They weren't choosing to purchase paper bags and we just thought, 'What is the point of raisingthe fees when things are working the way they are supposed to?'"

Ban has gone 'very well'

In addition to cancelling the previously planned fee increase, there will be an exemption for clear plastic checkout bags for products that may leak fluids such as meat, "for safety reasons and sanitary reasons," Trivers said.

However, Triversnotes the six-month exemptionto allowbusinesses to use up their existing inventoriesof plastic bagsexpires soon.

"We're allowing them until Jan. 1, 2020, to use up all the plastic bags they might have had," he said.

Trivers said the ban on single-use plastic bags has gone "very well."

"Really it shouldn't be a surprise, because Islanders really want to do what is best for the environment. This was just the little nudge that we needed."

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