Plastic bag ban shelved -- for now
December 04, 2007
Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(Dec 4, 2007)
Hamilton won't ban or tax plastic grocery bags anytime soon.
Council's public works committee won't even ask staff to study the issue until it finds out how much time would be involved and how other projects would be affected.
While Councillor Chad Collins predicted yesterday it's only a matter of time until plastic bags face widespread bans, he said he wouldn't vote to look at local action without knowing "what won't be done as a result of studying this. I'd prefer staff work on 10 matters at 100 per cent than 100 at 10 per cent."
Scott Stewart, general manager of public works, said staff would return with a report on how such a study would fit in the 2008 work plan.
The city's Waste Reduction Task Force, with members representing a range of community interests, called for a study at a meeting last June. The request was approved by councillors on the Solid Waste Management Master Plan Steering Committee and sent to yesterday's works committee meeting for approval.
But the committee instead went along with Collins' proposal to hold off.
Before that, councillors said they were worried about raising more controversy so soon after last week's controversial decision to phase in a one-bag garbage limit.
Councillor Tom Jackson said: "We just went through a highly contentious, extremely difficult debate. There's still a lot of anger in the community, at least in my community."
Councillor Sam Merulla suggested the city lobby the federal and provincial governments "to ensure bags be eliminated," and Stewart said it would be "ideal if you have national policies on these kinds of things."
Councillor Russ Powers said Quebec is talking about taxing petroleum-based garbage bags and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario discussed ways to reduce plastic-bag waste just last Friday, so it might be premature for Hamilton to start its own study next year.
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Councillor Tom Jackson said: "We just went through a highly contentious, extremely difficult debate. There's still a lot of anger in the community, at least in my community."
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Wow... maybe if they weren't such idiots then garbage bag "debate" wouldn't have been so difficult. God these people dissapoint... and there's still 3 more years :s
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