Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy

The ban on serving prepared food in polystyrene foam cups and foam take-out containers begins Jan 1, 2020.

Review the by-law PDF file (103 KB)

Exemptions

Hospitals and community care facilities are exempt, and a 1-year temporary exemption for charitable food providers will apply.

Support materials

A public awareness, education, and outreach campaign to support the public, food vendors, charitable food providers, and suppliers in the transition away from foam cups and foam take-out containers, will launch in fall 2019.

Sign up for campaign updates and language-appropriate educational resources at the bottom of the page.

Waste snapshot

• Expanded polystyrene foam cups and foam take-out containers are only recyclable if they are not contaminated with leftover food or mixed with other materials like paper, plastics, glass, or grit.
• The only option for recycling foam cups and foam containers in Vancouver is to drop them off at depots or stores, however, only 6% of Vancouver residents say they will take foam containers to a recycling depot.
• It’s not feasible to collect foam in residential curbside recycling programs because it breaks apart easily, contaminating other materials. Foam is also incredibly light yet bulky, resulting in high transportation costs.
• 1% of large litter on Vancouver streets is made of polystyrene cups and containers.
• Small foam pieces made up 9% of items collected in Vancouver shoreline cleanups in 2016.

The full details of the by-law are still being developed. Staff will present the by-law, who it applies to, phasing, and enforcement plans by Nov 30, 2019.

Until then, we can confirm a ban on the unnecessary use of plastic straws will begin April 2020.

Pending Council approval, the by-law will include a requirement for bendable plastic straws to be available on request for accessibility needs, and phasing in by license type.

Did you know?

Bendable plastic straws meet the widest range of accessibility needs. The proposed by-law will aim to reduce the majority of plastic straws while improving accessibility and inclusion.

Exemptions

Pending Council approval, hospitals and community care facilities will be exempt from the ban.

Support for the public, food vendors, and suppliers

If the by-law is approved, we will launch a public awareness, education, and outreach campaign to support the public, food vendors, and suppliers in the transition away from the unnecessary use of plastic straws.

Sign up for campaign updates and language-appropriate educational resources at the bottom of the page.

Waste snapshot

• Plastic straws and stir sticks make up about 3% of shoreline litter in Vancouver.
• Plastic straws can fall through screens on recycling sorting lines that are designed to remove contaminants, so they can’t be recycled. 
• Plastic straws have a significant potential to contaminate compost.
• Plastic straws – even those marked biodegradable or compostable – are considered contaminants and are not accepted in the City’s Green Bin program.  The Green Bin program is designed to accept food scraps, yard waste, and food-soiled paper from residents.   
• Compost facilities have difficulties processing compostable plastic because they take a long time to break down.
• Plastic straws have negative impacts on marine life and the environment.

By-law requirements, enforcement, phasing, and education plans will be announced by Nov 30, 2019, following the completion of consultation with stakeholders. 

Waste snapshot

• Around 2 million plastic shopping bags are disposed in the garbage in Vancouver each week (63% are reused as garbage bags).
• Plastic bags make up 3% of shoreline litter and 2% of large litter items in Vancouver streets, parks, and public spaces.
• Paper bags make up 1% of large street litter items.
• Plastic bags harm marine life and are made using non-renewable fossil fuels.
• It can take anywhere from 10 to 10,000 years for a plastic shopping bag to decompose.
• Paper bags actually cause more harmful greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime than plastic bags because of manufacturing processes and they require more fuel because they are heavier to transport.

By-law requirements, enforcement, phasing, and education plans will be announced by Nov 30, 2019 following the completion of consultation with stakeholders. 

Waste snapshot

• Disposable cups include polycoat paper cups (such as coffee cups) and plastic cups.
• 2.6 million polycoat paper cups are thrown in the trash in Vancouver every week.
• Nearly 50% of garbage collected from public waste bins are disposable cups and take-out containers.
• 22% of litter on Vancouver streets are disposable cups, lids, and sleeves.
• Recycle BC accepts polycoat paper cups in its household and apartment recycling program, but many businesses do not accept them because their waste collection companies struggle to access recycling markets.

By-law requirements, enforcement, phasing, and education plans will be announced on Nov 30, 2019, following completion of consultation with stakeholders.

Waste snapshot

• Plastic straws and stir sticks make up about 3% of shoreline litter in Vancouver.
• Plastic straws and utensils can fall through screens on recycling sorting lines that are designed to remove contaminants, and sent to landfill or incinerator. 
• Plastic straws and utensils — even those labeled biodegradable or compostable — have a significant potential to contaminate compost.
• Compost facilities have difficulties processing compostable plastic straws and utensils because they take a long time to break down.
• Plastic straws and utensils have negative impacts on marine life and the environment.

Staff are working with Vancouver Coastal Health to explore opportunities to launch a reusable container program in Vancouver. 

The program will launch once Vancouver Coastal Health develops a guideline to allow restaurants to fill take-out orders in reusable containers brought in by customers. 

The guideline will enable restaurants to create a documented procedure for approval by the local health authority to ensure that customers’ reusable containers can be filled in a manner that maintains sanitary conditions.

Waste snapshot

• Reduction and reuse alternatives for take-out containers are not well developed in Vancouver.
• Quick-serve and take-out restaurants generally serve meals in disposable containers, as many of these restaurants don’t have space for commercial dishwashers or storage for dishes.
• Health codes currently prevent restaurants from filling take-out orders in containers brought in by customers unless they sanitize them before use.
• Nearly 50% of all garbage collected from public waste bins is take-out containers and disposable cups.
• Compostable and recyclable packaging materials often get mixed up when discarded, contaminating both streams and making them impossible to process. This means they get disposed to landfill and incinerator.

• By-law prohibiting foam cups and foam take-out containers (amends License By-law No. 4450) PDF file (103 KB)

• Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy with amendments as approved by Council (Jun 5, 2018) PDF file (1 MB)
• Draft Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy (Mar 29, 2018) PDF file (524 KB)

Apr 2019

• Council minutes (Apr 29, 2019) PDF file (142 KB)
• Council presentation (Apr 24, 2019) PDF file (6 MB)
• Council report (Apr 16, 2019) PDF file (184 KB)

May 16, 2018

• Council minutes PDF file (52 KB)
• Council presentation PDF file (1 MB)
• Council report PDF file (155 KB)

Jun 27, 2017

• Council minutes PDF file (58 KB)
• Council presentation PDF file (3 MB)
• Council report PDF file (47 KB)

Feb 2, 2016

• Council minutes PDF file (179 KB)
• Council presentation PDF file (3 MB)
• Council report PDF file (230 KB)

• Phase 3 consultation summary report PDF file (850 KB)
• Phase 2 consultation summary report PDF file (3 MB)
• Consultation paper PDF file (700 KB)
• Phase 1 consultation workshop summary PDF file (500 KB)