Thursday, July 25, 2019
~ West Shore Voice News
British Columbians are encouraged to share their opinions about proposed new actions to reduce the plastic waste that is polluting the province’s waterways, environment and landfills — by taking part in an online survey. The survey and the Province’s consultation paper are here: cleanbc.ca/plastics
“The message from British Columbians is loud and clear – we need to take action to reduce plastic waste, especially single-use items like water bottles and plastic bags that often find their way into our waters, streets and environment,” says George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
The BC Government is proposing action in four connected areas to reduce plastic pollution and use less plastic overall:
* Bans on single-use packaging: determining which types of plastic packaging to phase out altogether, as well as any necessary exemptions, such as those for health, safety and accessibility, to keep products available for the people who need them
* Dramatically reduce single-use plastics in landfills and waterways: requiring producers to take responsibility for more plastic products, ensuring more single-use items like sandwich bags, straws and cutlery get recycled
* Plastic bottle and beverage container returns: expanding the deposit-refund system to cover all beverage containers – including milk and milk-substitutes – with a 10-cent refundable deposit, keeping millions more containers out of landfills and waterways
* Reducing plastic waste overall: supporting effective ways to prevent plastic waste in the first place and making sure recycled plastic is reused effectively
“We have a responsibility to British Columbians to curb the significant impacts of plastic pollution on our environment and marine life,” said Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver in a BC Government news release. “Taking action on plastic waste is a priority the BC Green caucus shares with this government, as well as with the local governments that have already shown leadership in this area. I look forward to hearing from British Columbians on their priorities for action on plastics.”
The survey will be available online to September 18, 2019.