Will city say bye-bye to plastic bags?
Dana Brown
The Hamilton Spectator
(Dec 3, 2007)
Think reducing trash will be tough? Then you're probably not up for
an all-out ban on plastic bags.
The idea is just one of several options being floated to help reduce the use of plastic bags in Hamilton.
Earlier this year, the Waste Reduction Task Force recommended that the city review ways to reduce bag use.
Today, city staff will recommend to the public works committee that councillors approve going ahead with the review.
Other options to be looked at include taxing plastic bags and bringing in other reuse and recycling initiatives.
Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina says if it were up to him, it would be bye-bye to the baggies.
"I can't stand petroleum-based things like plastic bags that will live forever in a landfill," he said.
If Hamilton did decide to ban the bags, the city wouldn't be the first to do so. In March, San Francisco, Calif., became the first city in North America to ban traditional plastic grocery bags.
The move was followed less than a week later by Leaf Rapids, a tiny northern Manitoba town. The town became the first municipality in Canada to ban plastic bags.
Hamilton Ward 13 Councillor Russ Powers said he feels a report looking at options is a good idea.
He stressed that the issue still requires study and could use input from other communities.
Powers said he does not support a bag ban at this time. Bratina said he's not sure how much the overall city would support a plastic bag ban.
If councillors approve going ahead with the review, it would be done next year.
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