Business Toolkit
Printable information and communication tools can help businesses make sense of the bylaw and inform customers.
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Printable information and communication tools can help businesses make sense of the bylaw and inform customers.
Edmonton’s Single-use Item Reduction Bylaw (20117) will help reduce waste by targeting items that can easily be avoided or replaced with reusable options. The goal is to reduce single-use items, not to switch from plastic items to non-plastic items.
“Single-use items” includes items that are made of plastic, as well as those made out of wood, bamboo, cardboard or any other material.
Edmonton’s Single-use Item Reduction Bylaw (20117) has been approved by City Council and will go into effect on July 1, 2023.
Single-use plastic shopping bags can no longer be distributed, and businesses must charge at least 15 cents for a paper shopping bag and at least $1 for a new reusable shopping bag.
These minimum fees will increase on July 1, 2024 to 25 cents for a paper bag and $2 for a new reusable bag.
Restaurants must serve dine-in drink orders in reusable cups, and have a written policy for accepting reusable customer cups
Accessories such as utensils, straws, condiment packets and napkins will only be available by request or self-serve.
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Asking businesses and customers to use fewer single-use items means:
Through these measures, the City aims to reduce the number of regulated single-use items used in Edmonton by 20% per person within 4 years.
Several bylaw regulations can save businesses money:
The federal single-use plastics regulations complement Edmonton’s bylaw. Both ban plastic shopping bags and foam cups, plates and takeout containers. The federal regulations also ban plastic straws, stir sticks, utensils and other types of plastics that are difficult to recycle. In contrast, the City’s bylaw aims to reduce single-use items, regardless of material, and make it easier to choose reusable items.
The manufacture of affected items is banned federally as of December 2022, but they can be sold and used in Canada until December 2023.
By developing our own bylaw to restrict the use of single-use items, the City can better support and educate businesses and residents, rather than relying on federal resources to help them adapt. This approach will lead to greater compliance and better environmental outcomes.