These are items that are designed to be used once and then thrown away. Common single-use items include plastic retail bags, polystyrene (Styrofoam) serving trays and bowls, plastic straws, plastic utensils, coffee stir sticks and stoppers, and polystyrene, plastic or paper cups.

The first and simplest step in waste management is waste reduction. We can all easily reduce the waste we produce. A simple first step is to use re-usable bags/containers when shopping. The amount of redundant packaging and single-use plastic used globally is creating large environmental and human health concerns.

There are 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags used annually around the globe. While single-use items are convenient, they have a great negative impact on our environment. These items are designed to be used once and disposed of, yet can take thousands of years to break down. It is estimated there are over 1.3 million single-use plastic retail bags used by Devonians annually.

In addition, North America relies on foreign markets to recycle our materials. With recent changes, places like China will reject shipments of recyclables that are contaminated with many of these single-use items.

A single-use plastic retail bag is a plastic bag less than 2 mils (0.05 millimetres) thick that is distributed by retail establishments. This bylaw is referring to what are commonly known as plastic “checkout bags”.

Yes. There are exemptions stated in the bylaw.

1. Single-use plastic retail bags used for:

• carrying fruits or vegetables
• containing fresh meat or fish products;
• containing bulk food items (i.e. candy, nuts, grains, etc.) or bulk hardware items (i.e. screws, nuts, bolts, etc.);
• freshly prepared bakery items or other food items;
• wrapping flowers or potted plants;
• clothes immediately following professional laundering or dry-cleaning;
• dirty, greasy, or hazardous products or materials.

2. Single-use plastic retail bags distributed by a non-profit; a food bank, a homeless shelter or an animal shelter, in its normal course of business.

3. The sale of multiple or bulk, prepackaged single-use plastic bags (i.e. blue bags and garbage bags).

4. Pre-packaged items purchased from distributors.

Yes. As of January 1, 2020, there will be penalties in accordance with Schedule A of the bylaw and a verbal warning will be issued for a first offence.

Yes. In-fact, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo adopted a “Single-Use Shopping Bag Bylaw” in September of 2010. Other Alberta municipalities with active bylaws or that are discussing single-use waste reduction strategies include:

• Banff
• Calgary
• Edmonton
• Okotoks
• Spruce Grove
• St. Albert
• Wetaskiwin

Many companies are also working to reduce waste within their organizations and are implementing single-use waste reduction plans and new types of packaging to reduce their environmental impacts and to cut unnecessary costs. These companies include Sobeys, A&W, IKEA, McDonalds, and Proctor & Gamble.

Retail establishments can use-up existing stock until the bylaw takes effect on January 1, 2020. Residents are encouraged to donate or find other uses for these bags. Ultimately, the more use that the bag can experience, the better.

Some options for small containers at home include:

• Using no bag
• Using-up existing single-use plastic retail bags or using small bags as liners and dumping the contents of the containers into a large garbage bag containing household garbage, so smaller bags/liners are not thrown-out and last longer
• Using compostable bags if the container is used for organics (i.e. food scraps, paper towel, toilet paper, Kleenex, or other organics) and then placing the items in the green organics cart with or without the compostable bag