Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy

With your help, we've created a made-in-Vancouver strategy to dramatically reduce waste from single-use items.

Businesses and charitable food providers

Prepare for bans and by-laws on single-use items.

Residents

Information for residents on the bans on plastic straws, foam cups, and foam containers, and the by-laws on utensils, shopping bags, and cups.

Upcoming single-use item by-law changes

Review details by item type below, or the by-law documents.

Foam cups and foam take-out containers

Jan 1, 2020: ban begins for business license holders
Effective Jan 1, 2020, businesses are required to comply with a city-wide ban, which restricts licence holders from serving prepared food and beverages in foam cups and foam take-out containers.

Exemptions

Hospitals and community care facilities are exempt from the ban.

A 1-year temporary exemption for charitable food providers will apply.
- Businesses: learn more and get resources for your business
- Residents: learn how you can support businesses through this transition
Waste snapshot
- The remnants of single-use foam cups and take out containers are frequently found in shoreline cleanups and as litter on our streets, parks, and green spaces.
- 78% of Vancouver residents support a ban and 82% of residents said that they would pay more for sustainable alternatives.
- Single-use foam cups and foam take-out containers can break apart. When this happens in recycling bins, the foam and any other materials around it cannot be recycled properly. For this reason, foam must be recycled at depots, and must be clean and dry.
- Only 6% of Vancouver residents reported that they bring foam to a recycling depot.
- The majority of single-use foam cups and foam take-out containers are sent to landfill.
Plastic straws

Apr 22, 2020: accessibility requirements and ban begin
Effective Apr 22, 2020:
- Ban on all single-use plastic straws, except for flexible plastic straws, individually wrapped in paper to be provided for accessibility.
- All food vendors are required to provide flexible plastic straws, individually wrapped in paper, to ensure that customers who are unable to drink without a straw, or have difficulty drinking, can safely consume beverages and nutrition.
- Anyone who asks for a flexible plastic straw, individually wrapped in paper, should receive one. People are not required, and should not be asked, to provide any medical information to prove their need.
- The ban on all other plastic straws includes plastic made from fossil fuel products, and plastic that is labeled or described as compostable, degradable, or made from plants or other biological materials.
Exemptions
- Hospitals and community care facilities are exempt from the ban
- A 1-year temporary exemption is provided for plastic straws served with bubble tea to allow time for the market to provide alternatives
- Straws attached to drink boxes or drink pouches
- Packages of at least 20 straws sold for personal use
Support for the public and businesses

Toolkits for businesses are now available. A public awareness, education, and outreach campaign will launch in early April 2020.

Sign up for updates on the public campaign at the bottom of this page.
- Businesses: learn more and get resources for your business
- Residents: learn what these by-laws mean for you
Waste snapshot
- Each year, about 24- to 30-million plastic straws are thrown in the garbage in Vancouver — not including plastic straws that are littered to the natural environment.
- 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 compostable, biodegradable, or made from plants – are considered contaminants and are not accepted in our 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.
- Compostable and biodegradable plastic straws are not designed to biodegrade when littered in the natural environment.
Disposable utensils

Apr 22, 2020: by-request requirement begins
Effective Apr 22, 2020, businesses cannot automatically include single-use utensils (spoon, fork, knife, or chopstick) in a customer’s order for dine-in, drive-through, take-out, or delivery. These items can only be provided upon customer request. Self-serve stations are allowed.

Exemptions

Hospitals and community care facilities are exempt from the by-request requirement.

Support for the public, food vendors, and suppliers

Toolkits for businesses are now available. A public awareness, education, and outreach campaign will launch in early April 2020.

Sign up for updates on the public campaign at the bottom of this page.
- Businesses: learn more and get resources for your business
Waste snapshot
- In 2018, about 330 million disposable utensils were thrown in the garbage in Metro Vancouver. Over two thirds were chopsticks.
- Single-use plastic 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 compostable or biodegradable — 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.
Disposable cups

Jan 1, 2021: $0.25 fee begins
Effective Jan 1, 2021, businesses must charge a minimum fee of $0.25 for every disposable cup and display the cost of disposable cups wherever customers place orders for drinks (such as menus, menu boards, and online ordering platforms).

If receipts are given, the fee for each disposable cup must be included as its own line item.

Exemptions

Hospitals, community care facilities, and charitable food providers are exempt from the requirement to charge fees on disposable cups.

Support for the public, food vendors, and suppliers

Toolkits for businesses are now available. A public awareness, education, and outreach campaign will launch in early April 2020.

Sign up for updates on the public campaign at the bottom of this page.
- Businesses: learn more and get resources for your business
Waste snapshot
- Disposable single-use 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.
Plastic and paper bags

Jan 1, 2021: ban on plastic and compostable plastic shopping bags begins, fees on paper and reusable shopping bags
Effective Jan 1, 2021, businesses must comply with the ban on single-use plastic and compostable plastic shopping bags and charge fees of $0.15 for paper shopping bags and $1.00 for reusable shopping bags. Paper shopping bags must contain at least 40% recycled content.

In 2022, minimum fees increase to $0.25 per paper shopping bag and $2.00 per reusable shopping bag.

Exemptions

Hospitals and community care facilities are exempt.

Charitable food providers can provide paper and reusable shopping bags at no cost.

Support for the public, food vendors, and suppliers

Toolkits for businesses are now available. A public awareness, education, and outreach campaign will launch in early April 2020.

Sign up for updates on the public campaign at the bottom of this page.
- Businesses: learn more and get resources for your business
- Residents: avoid bag fees, BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag)
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.
- Compostable and biodegradable plastic bags are not designed to biodegrade when littered in the natural environment.
- If disposed to landfill, compostable and biodegradable plastic will generate methane, a greenhouse gas.
Take-out containers

Staff are working with Vancouver Coastal Health to explore opportunities to launch a reusable container initiative in Vancouver.
Until then, customers can bring reusable containers to bring home leftovers from restaurants, provided they transfer the food into the container at the table.

Sign up for updates at the bottom of this page.
- Businesses: learn more
Waste snapshot
- Reduction and reuse alternatives for single-use 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.