Single use plastics? Not so fantastic!

BY TOM FIRTH

It was with much debate that the conversation about the continued presence of single-use plastics became part of our lives. While it may seem like images of sea turtles surrounded by plastic can holders or straws might come from far away – perhaps too far for us to be concerned about - the rising presence of plastics in our lives (and in our waste) is coming to a critical mass in Alberta. Our landfills are well… filling up – and recycling only goes so far. And really, as far as things go, do we need to be presented with a onetime-only plastic straw for our sodas?

In late December 2022, Canada prohibited certain single use plastics, such as stir sticks, straws, and yes - plastic cutlery and plastic shopping bags, in an effort to reach zero plastic waste by 2030. In part, this is an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, but also address pollution concerns in general, as many single use plastics are not able to be recycled or processed effectively after use.

Naturally, many Canadians embraced these changes - but equally as naturally, many Canadians objected to these inconveniences. There were claims of insufficient reasons for the change, insufficient alternatives to certain single use plastics, and for some, that “why bother?” attitude that often goes with some phrase like “such and such place makes/emits/or consumes far more than we do”.

Nevertheless, even small changes can add up, and make for a significant change for the future, so we talked to representatives at both the City of Calgary, and the City of Edmonton to ask about these single use changes and how they affect consumers at the city level.

Denis Jubinville, Branch Manager, Waste Services at the City of Edmonton, explained that their goal is not just to switch from plastic items to non-plastic items, but to reduce items that are used once and thrown away. The city was wellprepared for the changes: “The federal restrictions focus on plastics, but we didn’t want to limit our restrictions to plastics,” he says. “Instead, Edmonton’s bylaw aims to increase the use of reusable items. It targets items that can easily be replaced with reusable options or avoided altogether, regardless what material they are made of.”

The government’s regulations ban the manufacture and import of six categories of single-use plastics: checkout bags, cutlery, ring carriers, stir sticks, takeout containers containing hard to recycle materials, and straws (with a few exemptions). “All of these plastic items can be problematic for our residential recycling and composting programs, especially when they are not properly prepared or sorted into the correct cart,” says Kayley Fesko, Waste Diversion Specialist at the City of Calgary. “When the federal regulations are fully realized, we anticipate there will be fewer challenges related to many of these plastics in Calgary’s residential recycling and composting programs,” she adds.

Now that changes are underway, there are a few ongoing concerns that we should still be aware of. According to Jubinville, items like takeout containers that are labelled “compostable” present challenges as they don’t break down in the regional organics processing facilities, so they end up in the landfill. These “compostable” items require higher temperatures and longer processing times than most industrial facilities are able to provide.

This sentiment is echoed in Calgary where small items like prepackaged condiment containers continue to be a challenge. One problem is that even if they are made from a recyclable material, they are too small to be sorted property at the recycling facility and end up contaminating other recyclables. “Certified compostable plastic products like cutlery, cups and packaging are problematic in Calgary’s composting facility, as while labeled compostable, these products won’t break down quickly enough in our composting process and will contaminate the finished compost,” Fesko explains.

So is there a particular class of product that we really should avoid using?

“We really want to encourage Calgarians to shift away from using single-use items in the first place,” says Fesko. “This can easily be done by Calgarians bringing their reusable bags when they are shopping. This will help them avoid the minimum bag fee and reduce their reliance on singleuse shopping bags.”

And what about restaurants, what should we be asking food establishments to move away from?

“Reusable items are always the best option from an environmental perspective, so we encourage restaurants to use reusable dishes and cutlery for dine-in orders. Our bylaw requires that reusable cups be used for dine-in orders,” Jubinville says.

We asked Mark von Schellwitz, Vice President, Western Canada for Restaurants Canada, to weigh in here as the organization has been actively involved in all federal, provincial, as well as many larger cities’ plastic reductions initiatives, regulations, and bylaws. “We believe that our industry has shown its ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility, from locally sourced ingredients to energy efficiency, sustainability is simply a part of doing business in restaurants today,” he says.

It's impressive how our foodservice industry has embraced these changes, as we all know that so many had to start offering takeout and delivery just to survive the pandemic, and it’s remained an important part of their business. They’ve demonstrated a willingness to adapt to support the implementation of a Canadawide strategy on zero plastic waste, while demand for takeout and delivery continues to increase.

However, “they also need to continue providing their customers with safe, accessible, and affordable takeout and delivery options,” says von Schellwitz. “Many single-use packaging items that are already recyclable end up in landfill due to a lack of public consumer education and a confusing patchwork of recycling standards and containers which vary from region to region.” An example is where both Calgary and Edmonton City Councils recently approved new single-use item bylaws that are somewhat different and will be implemented at different times, so Restaurants Canada continues to advocate for a harmonized approach between all levels of government and for one set of easily understood packaging regulations and bylaws (for both consumers and restaurateurs) applied across Canada.

For takeout orders, Jubinville says that they encourage restaurants to accept customers’ clean reusable containers and require restaurants to have a policy to accept customers’ reusable cups. “If reusables aren’t an option, we encourage restaurants to use locally recyclable containers, like unlined cardboard, clear or white plastic, and aluminum.”

“We want Calgarians to get into the habit of requesting items such as utensils, condiments, and napkins only when needed,” Fesko adds. “They can carry a reusable fork, spoon, and cloth napkin with them when dining out.”

While neither city specifically tracks plastic waste from restaurant or dining, both cities undertake waste characterization studies and estimate that millions of single use plastics are disposed of each week.

Naturally, with anything that changes, there are stumbling blocks. Calgary Co-ops have had some headaches with their starch-based compostable shopping bags that are suitable for processing in municipal compost programs, but at the federal level they are still classified as a non-conventional plastics and not permissible. Some of the concerns focus around these bags as litter, or finding their way into landfills, incorrectly as recyclables, or otherwise contributing to the plastics problem. Time is running out on these shopping bags, and there is still some hope that a suitable resolution will be found.

Much more recently, there are some restaurant take-out containers that are going to be refundable at bottle depots. Alberta’s bottle refund program collects about 85 percent of beverage containers in the province, and that’s a solid foundation for diverting take out containers from the landfill. More and more manufacturers too are looking at reducing excess packaging, or weeding out plastics entirely where they can.

On a slightly sadder note, there hasn’t been too much movement towards a great, easily recyclable drinking straw, but on the other hand, I drink less soda now….

In Calgary, it is estimated that each week, going into the garbage are:

3.5 million plastic shopping bags

6.4 million plastic utensils

2.4 million disposable cups

2.4 million take out containers

And in Edmonton, this is what ends up in the garbage on a weekly basis:1.75 million plastic shopping bags

1.75 million plastic shopping bags

2.3 million plastic utensils

1.75 million disposable cups

2 million take out containers

For more information on single use plastics, check out these websites: calgary.ca/waste/residential/single-use-items edmonton.ca/programs_services/garbage_waste/ single-use-items

And for restaurants: info.restaurantscanada.org/hubfs/Resources/Toolkits/SingleUse-Items-ReductionStrategy-Guide.pdf