The town of Banff has taken steps to reduce the amount of unnecessary waste generated from restaurants, coffee shops and bars, and will soon ban stores from offering plastic bags.
Earlier this week, Banff town council passed the single-use items reduction bylaw promoting the use of reusable shopping bags and food ware.
"Banff has demonstrated incredible voluntary leadership when it comes to diverting waste, and now it's time to take more prescribed efforts towards our goal of eliminating all waste going to landfill by 2050,” said Corrie DiManno, Banff mayor, in a statement released Thursday. "We are excited for this bylaw to support public education on the importance of reducing single-use items and to build upon the grassroots programs we currently have in place to remove disposables from our consumer waste stream."
Under the bylaw, Banff now requires at least 10 seats for customers who want to eat-in at all new businesses serving food and drink, and the eateries must make reusable food ware available to them. Existing businesses within the town that offer take-out will have until 2024 to comply with the new seating requirements.
"The fact is, our municipality spends a lot of time and energy emptying pedestrian bins filled with single-use consumer items, sorting disposables that contaminate our recycling and composting bins, and cleaning litter from our streets," added DiManno. "This simply isn't befitting of a town located in Canada's first national park, especially with wildlife and sensitive ecosystems surrounding us. We know we can do better to make real change."
As of July 1, eateries in the mountain town within Banff National Park may no longer serve plastic straws, plastic utensils, cup lids or pre-packaged condiments unless a customer specifically requests them. Businesses may continue to offer the restricted items at self-serve stations but must offer reusable options as well. Customers who bring their own reusable cups or containers for food or beverages must also be accommodated.
At the start of 2024, all food and drink that is sold for consumption within the premises will need to be served in reusable bowls, plates, glasses or cups, and cutlery must also be reusable.
The end of 2023 will also see the introduction of a plastic shopping ban under the bylaw. Stores may not provide customers with new plastic shopping bags but may offer paper or reusable bags for a minimum fee of 25 cents for paper and $2 for reusable. The minimum charge is expected to motivate customers to bring their own reusable bag.
Additional details regarding the bylaw and the town's single-use reduction strategy are available here.
