The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) is one of several municipalities and regional districts that have signed a letter to Environment Minister George Heyman seeking changes to recycling regulations.
The letter is a response to the province’s call for input on its Plastics Action Plan, which would see changes made to the the Environmental Management Act to address plastic waste.
“By collaborating with other local governments as one voice to provide advice on the regulation of single-use plastics, the provincial government is more likely to pay attention,” said SCRD chair Lori Pratt in a release.
One of the letter’s recommendations was to include “incentives to encourage the use of sustainable, reusable options,” in addition to bans on single-use items.
They also recommended more clarity on local government’s authority on banning single-use plastics and other measures, introducing a “stepped” or “phased” approach to regulating single-use plastics, improving Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs and expanding them to include industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) materials, and improving consultation.
At the Oct. 17 infrastructure committee meeting where directors voted to sign the letter, chair Lori Pratt acknowledged the impact ICI waste is having on the Sechelt landfill, in particular. “We need to do something about the ICI waste – this is becoming ridiculous,” she said, before making a motion, which passed unanimously, for staff to investigate options for ICI waste and recycling diversion to come forward in early 2020.
Several of the letter’s signatories are in the process of adopting single-use plastics regulations, but local governments aren’t the only organizations looking at plastics reduction on the Sunshine Coast.
On Nov. 8, a Tackling Plastics Forum has been organized for businesses looking to transition away from single-use plastics.
The forum “was established to engage and work with businesses and government to eliminate single-use plastics, starting with single-use plastic bags on the Sunshine Coast,” according to a release.
The Sechelt Downtown Business Association and Sunshine Coast Community Foundation are presenting the event, and the recently-formed Committee for a Single-Use Plastics Free Coast is also involved.
Tickets for the morning event can be purchased on Share There: https://share-there.com/index.php/showevent?eventid=123&eventinstance=115
