Coastal Victory: Province of BC Single-Use and Plastic Waste Prevention Regulation
This year’s Plastic Free July ended with metaphorical fireworks, as the British Columbia (BC) Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman announced BC’s latest suite of plastic regulations.
The focus of the “Single-Use and Plastic Waste Prevention Regulation” is hard to recycle and single-use plastic items, which is aspiring to a circular economy, where all plastics are managed in a closed-loop system. In an ideal circular scenario, no plastics would end up in landfills or the environment, and we would shift our heavy reliance from virgin plastic products and packaging to systems for refill and reuse.
This new regulation falls under the umbrella of the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan, which is seeking to protect the Province of BC from the continuous storm of plastic pollution that is reigning the streets, parks, landfills, and coastline. Items covered by the regulation include shopping bags, disposable food service accessories, oxo-degradable plastics and food service packaging made of polystyrene foam, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), compostable or biodegradable plastics.
By now, you’re likely thinking, “sign me up! When do we start?” The Province of BC is adopting a six-month timeline to accommodate for sufficient public education and for businesses to exhaust their current supply of banned plastic items.
In the environmental world, we also love harmony. The Province of BC’s impending rules will also sync up with the federal government's plastic regulations, as the sale of plastic checkout bags, drinking straws, cutlery, stir sticks, ring carriers, and food-service ware made from plastics will be banned across Canada on December 20th, 2023.
At first glance, the Province of BC’s new regulation seems similar to current federal action on insidious single-use plastics. However, the Province of BC is going a step further to capture a broader sweep of hard to recycle and single-use plastics. The new regulation encompasses oxo-degradable plastics, compostable plastics and biodegradable plastics, which are not covered under any federal, provincial or territorial regulation. This decision is significant as many businesses have quickly switched from the recently banned plastic straws and cutlery to their bioplastic counterpart, which does not break down in the environment, generates methane in landfills, and are not valuable materials within a composting circular economy. Disposable food accessories are also getting cut in this provincial plastic showdown: beverage cup lids, beverage cup sleeves, condiments, drinking straws, garnishes, napkins, utensils and wet wipes. The regulation also includes exemptions for reasons of accessibility, affordability, or if no suitable alternative is available. The province is also continuing to allow municipalities to create and enforce their own bylaws for single-use and plastic items.
At Surfrider, we define a victory as a decision by a governing body that protects the coastal and ocean environment, improves coastal access, or both. Since 2019, Surfrider Canada has been lobbying the provincial government for strict plastic regulations, including banning all single-use plastics like beverage cups, as well as all bioplastics. We have also been advocating for the province to delegate authority to local governments to ban plastics within their jurisdictions. After four years of campaigning and raising awareness, we are stoked to see the Province of BC reclaim leadership in the movement to end plastic pollution. While there is an exorbitant amount of work to do, including on plastic items not covered by regulations, like cigarette butts, nurdles, and expanded and extruded polystyrene in aquatic infrastructure, this victory is a worthwhile celebration.
