YOU ARE HERE : Home / Sustainability / Environmental Sustainability / Recycling and Waste Reduction / Plastics and Plastic Bags / In the News / Oct 29,2006 
Oct 29,2006

By Jeff Nagel Black Press
Oct 29 2006

Civic leaders quickly declared a one-year truce Friday on the contentious issue of whether a tax should be slapped on plastic shopping bags as a recycling measure.

Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria voted overwhelmingly to defer the resolution for further study and a possible new vote a year from now.

“I’m of two minds with it,” said Langley Township Coun. Bob Long, one of many local politicians who said they were unsure of the merits after a fierce campaign by plastic manufacturers to sink the so-called PlasTax.

“I’m hearing different stories,” he said. “I’m hearing from some that it’s working tremendously well in Ireland. Others tell me it’s not working at all. And of course there is a lot of lobbying going on. But I wouldn’t mind finding out more about it before I make my mind up.”

Ireland in 2002 imposed a 15-cent surcharge on plastic bags provided for purchases at stores, and advocates claim it has slashed the use of the bags by 90% while pumping money into a fund for green initiatives.

Long said implementing it would likely involve decisions at the regional level, adding it’s unclear how that would work.

“It’s probably best that there’s more homework done and a more definite recommendation given,” he said.

Lions Bay Mayor Max Wyman hoped UBCM would endorse the plastic bag tax now and push senior governments to enact it.

“It’s too bad,” he said. “This is something where we could have made a significant difference. It’s a no-brainer.”

The resolution was spearheaded by District of North Vancouver Coun. Janet Harris, who agreed to defer it.

Retailer and business associations had joined the plastic industry in condemning the idea, saying it would add more costs and challenges for store operators and achieve little in the way of reducing the stream of plastic entering landfills.

Industry reps actually charge plastic use has increased in Ireland because more shoppers now buy heavier plastic bags to contain household garbage.

Harris, however, maintained the tax has “widespread and growing support” in Ireland.

“The Irish government with the so-called PlasTax changed consumer behaviour at the point of purchase in a way that voluntary programs and industry product stewardship programs never will,” Harris told UBCM delegates.

“How can we afford to ignore these results and not petition our senior levels of government to consider implementation of such a fee?”

Business groups accused Harris of keeping PlasTax from going to a vote that she knew she would lose.

“We wanted this proposal to come to a vote so that it could be finally and permanently defeated,” said Mark Startup of Retail BC. “Unfortunately what we witnessed was political manoeuvring to try and keep this flawed idea alive.”

Print View   Site Map   Login